Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 10-11-2020

Daily Current Affairs,DCA-CS,November 2020,

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. COVID-19 – COVID-19 vaccine could be 90% effective, claims Pfizer – Pharma major Pfizer has said that an early peek at the data on its coronavirus vaccine suggests the shots may be a robust 90% effective at preventing COVID-19.  The finding puts the company on track to apply later this month for emergency-use approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The announcement, less than a week after a presidential election that was seen as a referendum on President Donald Trump’s handling of the crisis, was a rare and major piece of encouraging news lately in the battle against COVID-19 that has killed more than 1.2 million people worldwide, including almost a quarter-million in the U.S. alone.
2. World – Trump plans rallies to protest election – U.S. President Donald Trump, who hasn’t conceded defeat to Joe Biden in the presidential election, is planning to hold rallies to build support for his challenge to the election results. He has launched an array of lawsuits to press claims of election fraud, for which he has produced no evidence. State officials said they were not aware of any significant irregularities. The President will seek to back his accusations of voting fraud by highlighting obituaries of dead people that the campaign said had voted in the election. Mr. Trump also announced teams to pursue recounts in several States. Although the States have yet to officially certify final election results, in keeping with normal practice, presidential candidates traditionally have recognised the independent analysis of major U.S. media and companies such as Edison Research, which called the election for the Democratic nominee Mr. Biden on November 7.
3. Economy – Passenger vehicle retail sales fell 9% in October: FADA – Retail sales of passenger vehicles (PVs) fell nearly 9% in October from a year earlier as factors such as lower discounts and supply chain-related issues dragged down demand. The numbers are in stark contrast to the strong growth posted by OEMs in dispatches to the dealers anticipating strong demand during Diwali. While market leader Maruti Suzuki had posted an 18% growth in wholesale sales, players such as Hyundai and Hero MotoCorp had witnessed record sales. FADA said even though the nine-day Navratri period witnessed robust vehicle registrations, October retail sales were in the red compared to October 2019 when both Navratri and Diwali were in the same month.
4. World – Suu Kyi’s party claims victory in Myanmar – Myanmar’s ruling party has claimed a resounding victory in the country’s second parliamentary election since the end of strict military rule, based on its own unofficial tally of votes. The election was viewed as a referendum on the fledgling democratic government led by Aung San Suu Kyi and her ruling National League for Democracy (NLD), which remains very popular at home but has seen its overseas reputation battered by accusations of genocide against the Rohingya Muslim minority. NLD spokesman Myo Nyunt said it had won many more than the 322 seats in parliament needed to form a government, based on data compiled from reports by party agents at polling stations nationwide. Nyunt added that the NLD expected to exceed the total of 390 seats it won in its 2015 landslide win.
5. Science & Technology – Virgin’s Hyperloop carries passengers for first time – Hyperloop technology, which promises to transport people and goods at speeds of up to 600 mph (approx 966 kmph), has long seemed too good to be true. But one company says it has cleared an important step toward commercialising it by moving two of its employees through a test system. Virgin Hyperloop has become the first firm to conduct a human test of the technology at its 500-metre test track near Las Vegas. The two volunteers, wearing casual street clothes, were whisked in a pod that was levitated by magnets inside a vacuum tube to 172 kmph in 6.25 seconds. The riders sat in molded seats, housed inside the all-white carbon fiber-clad pod. The modern hyperloop concept was first described in 2012 by Elon Musk, the top executive of SpaceX and Tesla.
6. Awards & Recognition – Bihar wins award for moving 25L migrants in 7k buses during crisis – Amid criticism of the Nitish Kumar government for poor handling of migrants during the pandemic, which also became a major poll issue in Bihar, the state transport department has received an award from the Centre for “commendable initiative” for deploying more than 7,000 buses on PPP mode for movement of over 25 lakh migrants during the Covid crisis. The state transport department had also set up an emergency response team within 24 hours of Covid-induced lockdown facilitating real-time monitoring through the transport management system. The first two awards of excellence for “Innovation in Urban Transport during Covid-19” went to Capital Region Urban Transport (CRUT), Bhubaneswar and the Agartala Smart City Ltd (ASCL), Tripura.
7. Economy – Banks report lower NPAs for Sept qtr – Contrary to expectations that there would be an increase in bad loans in the banking sector due to Covid-19, the ratio of non-performing assets (NPAs) to total loans has improved during the quarter ended in September 2020. The ratio of gross NPAs of banks has fallen to 7.7% from 8.2% in June and 7.9% in March 2020. At the end of the second quarter, public sector banks (including IDBI Bank), reported their gross NPA ratio at 9.7% compared to 10.2% in June 2020. Private sector banks too reported a decline in NPA ratio at 5% from 5.5%.
8. Economy – No auto boom, volumes fell 24% in Oct: Dealers – Auto manufacturers such as Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Hero MotoCorp may be insisting that all is well with a double-digit growth in wholesale dealer delivery numbers, but retailers are disagreeing and saying that market volumes, or those actually bought by customers, fell by 24% in October. Dealers, represented by Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), say that the “sentiment remains challenging” and “times are still turbulent” when it comes to retail sales. According to October retail sales data released by FADA, sales of two-wheelers in that month were down by 27%, passenger vehicles (cars, SUV/UVs, vans) by 9%, commercial vehicles by 30% and three-wheelers by 65%.
9. Education – Academic credit banks, degree with entry and exit option soon – The first National Agricultural Education Policy is set to bring academic credit banks and degree programmes with multiple entry and exit options to the 74 universities focussed on crop sciences, fisheries, veterinary and dairy training and research. More than 45,000 students are admitted into agricultural universities every year, and the new policy is set to usher in some changes to their academic life.
10. Polity & Governance – Punjab revokes general consent given to CBI – The Punjab government has withdrawn general consent given to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for investigating cases in the State. With this, the CBI would have to seek prior permission from the State government for conducting any investigation. The CBI derives its legal powers from the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946. The order adds that in any future investigation of any offence in the State, prior consent of the government of Punjab would be required on a case-to-case basis. Punjab has followed in the footsteps of other non-BJP ruled states, such as Jharkhand, Kerala, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. The state had earlier withdrawn consent given to cases of Bargari sacrilege and Behbal Kalan firing after the Assembly had passed a resolution to withdraw these cases from CBI.

Important Exam Notifications
S. No.	Institution	Exam or Post Name	Vacancies or Seats	Qualification	Last Date to Apply	Link for Details
1	ICMR	Assistant (Group B)	80	Deg. with Computers	DEC-3-2020	https://www.digialm.com//per/g01/pub/852/EForms/image/ImageDocUpload/806/1115823037310216966769.pdf
2	IIT, Delhi	Junior Assistant	18	Any Degree	NOV-27-2020	https://home.iitd.ac.in/uploads/Advt-No.E-II.16.2020-(DR)-English-Full.pdf
3	MSME Tech. Devp. Centre	Asst Director, Scientific Officer, Accountant	9	Diploma, Degree, PG	30 Days	https://img.freejobalert.com/uploads/2020/11/Notification-MSME-FFDC-Asst-Director-Scientific-Officer-Other.pdf
4	NWDA	Asst Engineer	5	Degree (Civil Engg)	DEC-31-2020	http://jalshakti-dowr.gov.in/sites/default/files/VC_NWDA_AE_Nov_2020.pdf
5	C-DAC, Noida	Pro. Mgr, Pro. Eng, Pro. Asso. & Pro. Officer	196	B.E/ B. Tech/ PG/ Ph.D	NOV-20-2020	https://cdac.in/index.aspx?id=ca_noida_recruit_Oct2020
6	ICMR	Scientist D, E	65	MBBS, PG Deg, MS/ MD/ DNB, Ph.D	DEC-5-2020	https://recruit.icmr.org.in/assets/uploads/advertisement/ICMR_Advertisement_06112020.pdf
7	South Eastern Railway	Contract Medical Practitioner (CMP)	7	MBBS, BDS, MCH, DNB, PG Deg/ Dip	DEC-2-2020	https://ser.indianrailways.gov.in/cris//uploads/files/1604663432927-CamScanner%2011-06-2020%2013.45.11.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 ONGC invites bids to strengthen production in ageing oil and gas fields

 

 Highlights –

• ONGC has invited bids from global oil and gas companies for undertaking work to boost production from its ageing fields as it looks to reverse declining output.
• The 15-year Production Enhancement Contract (PEC) will require firms to commit to investing in capital and operating expenditure to increase production, higher than the existing baseline output, according to the tender document.
• A tariff will be paid in USD per barrel of oil and USD per million British thermal units for gas for any incremental hydrocarbon produced and saved over the baseline.
• Recently, ONGC issued the expression of interest (EoI) notice offering 15-year PECs to outside contractors for an unidentified number of "mature" fields. The company did not mention oil or gas field names in the EoI notice, but sources said the fields are largely in Assam and Gujarat, the country's oldest producing basins.
• Companies will be required to commit investment in capital and operating expenditure "to increase production from the existing production by introduction of new technologies."
• Companies will have to do reservoir modelling, reserves assessment and execution of a development plan to enhance production.
• All the oil and gas produced will belong to ONGC and anyone interested has until December 1, 2020 to respond.

Key details –

• This is the second attempt by ONGC to induct partners in its 'mature' or ageing fields.
• On December 28, 2018, it had invited PEC bids for Geleki field in Assam and Kalol in Gujarat. But only Schlumberger responded for Geleki and no bid was received for Kalol. Schlumberger sought deviations which ONGC turned down. ONGC re-launched the PEC process for Kalol and Geleki with a request for information (RFI) notice on July 22, 2020.
• The government has been urging ONGC to hire international oil service companies to raise output from its mature oil fields as it saw the foreign companies as the answer to declining production from ageing fields.
• ONGC is looking forward to raising domestic output quickly to meet PM Modi's target of cutting import dependence by 10 per cent by 2022. India currently imports about 85 per cent of its oil needs.
• On December 7, 2016, ONGC had signed a Summary of Understanding (SoU) to give Kalol field to Halliburton and Geleki field to Schlumberger for raising production above the current baseline output.
• Though the contracts were signed in presence of Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, ONGC rescinded them in 2017, on fears of courting controversy for handing fields on nomination basis. Thereafter, the company in June 2017, floated an expression of interest (EoI) from service providers for undertaking production enhancement.
• Schlumberger Asia Services, Halliburton Offshore Services Inc and Baker Hughes Singapore PTE Ltd were shortlisted as the firms were meeting pre-qualification criteria.
• Bids were originally sought by May 25, 2018, but saw several extensions and final bids came in 2019. At the close of bids, only Schlumberger made a financial bid for Geleki field.

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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 Japan declares Prince Akishino heir to the throne 

 

Highlights –

• Japan has formally proclaimed Crown Prince Akishino the first in line to the Chrysanthemum Throne.
• The declaration is the latest in a series of ceremonies since Crown Prince Akishino's elder brother, Emperor Naruhito, became monarch following their father's abdication.
• Inside the palace's prestigious Pine Room, Emperor Naruhito, 60, officially declared his younger brother, also known as Prince Fumihito, the next in line to lead the world's oldest monarchy.
• The day-long ceremonies at the palace were scheduled for April but postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic and were scaled back as infections kept rising.
• Crown Prince Akishino, 54, is one of just three heirs to the throne. The others are Prince Hisahito, 14, and Prince Hitachi, 84, the younger brother of Emperor Emeritus Akihito, who stepped down last year in Japan's first abdication in two centuries.
• Under Japanese law, only males can inherit the throne, so Emperor Naruhito's only offspring, 18-year-old Princess Aiko, was ineligible. Moves to amend the law lost steam when his wife bore a son, Prince Hisahito, in 2006.

Important details –

• Changes to the succession law are anathema to conservatives, but the debate over how to ensure a stable succession is likely to intensify.
• One option has been to allow females, including Princess Aiko and Prince Hisahito's two elder sisters, to retain their imperial status after marriage and inherit or pass the throne to their children, a change that surveys show most ordinary Japanese favour.
• Conservatives want to revive junior royal branches stripped of imperial status after the war.

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

5.1 Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana – beneficiaries can stake claim online now

 

 

 Highlights –

• Beneficiaries of Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana (ABVKY) of Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) do not have to submit an affidavit form on their claims anymore.
• The decision has been taken by the Ministry of Labour and Employment after several beneficiaries were facing problems in submitting the claim on the Affidavit form.
• Beneficiaries who have submitted their claims online under the ABVKY and have submitted copies of their Aadhaar card, as well as other bank details, will no longer be required to file the claim of the affidavit form.
• If the documents are not uploaded during online filing of the claim, beneficiaries will have to submit the printout of the claim duly signed along with the required documents.
• The ESI Corporation held a meeting on 20 August where it had extended the Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana from 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021. It also decided to enhance the rate of relief under the scheme from 25 percent of the average daily earning at present to 50 percent of average daily earning.
• The corporation has also relaxed the eligibility conditions for the period 24 March 2020 to 31 December 2020, providing relief to workers who have become unemployed at the time of COVID-19 pandemic.

Notes –

• The ESIC is a social security organisation providing comprehensive benefits including reasonable medical care and a range of cash benefits in times of need such as employment injury, sickness, death.
• The corporation is covering nearly 3.49 crores of workers’ family and providing cash benefits and affordable medical care to its 13.56 crore beneficiaries.

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• 6. MISCELLANEOUS (Prelims, Various GS Papers)

6.1 Weekly Round-up – Arts and Culture

 

• Sir Sean Connery, legendary James Bond star, dies aged 90 - Legendary British star Sean Connery, who epitomised author Ian Fleming's suave 007 agent in seven James Bond movies, died at the age of 90 in Nassau, The Bahamas on October 31, 2020. He first played the role of James Bond in 1962's "Dr No". Connery won an Oscar for supporting actor for ‘The Untouchables’ (1987).
• Musician Alexander Vedernikov dies at 56 in Moscow - Russian Alexander Vedernikov, chief conductor of the Royal Danish Orchestra and former music director at Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre, died from Covid-19 at the age of 56 in Moscow on October 29, 2020.

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• 7. POLITY (Prelims, GS Paper 2)

7.1 National Education Day 2020

 

  

Key point –

• Every year, on November 11, National Education Day is celebrated across the country to commemorate the birth anniversary of India’s First Education Minister Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.

Important details –

• Maulana Abul Kalam Azad served the country from 1947 to 1958 as the first minister of Education in Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's cabinet.
• A reformer and the freedom fighter, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was not only a scholar but committed to building of the nation through education.
• Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was the man behind the IITs and many key institutes in the country.
• Maulana Abul Kalam Azad or Maulana Sayyid Abul Kalam Ghulam Muhiyuddin Ahmed bin Khairuddin Al-Hussaini Azad was born on November 11, 1888.
• On this day, several programs and campaigns are organized to spread awareness about education and make every person literate.
• On September 11, 2008, Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) had decided to celebrate November 11 as National Education Day every year.
• A poet, a scholar, a journalist and a freedom fighter, he contributed to the formation of India along with many leaders. But his biggest contribution to India has been the gift of Education.
• In 1920, he was invited and elected as a member of the foundation committee of Jamia Millia Islamia at Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh. In 1934 he assisted in the shifting of the campus of Jamia Millia Islamia to New Delhi.
• As the first Education Minister of a free India, responsible for setting up of the Central Institute of Education in Delhi. Later on this came to be known as the Department of Education under the University of Delhi.
• He was also responsible for setting up of University Grants Commission in 1953 and emphasized the setting up of Indian Institute of Science or IISc Bangalore.
• His largest contribution to the country were the Indian Institutes of Technology. It was under his leadership that the first IIT - IIT Kharagpur was set up in 1951.

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

8.1 Ro-Pax ferry service in Gujarat

 

 

Highlights –  

• PM Modi has inaugurated the Ro-Pax terminal at Hazira and flagged off the Ro-Pax ferry service between Hazira and Ghogha in Gujarat.
• He has also renamed the Ministry of Shipping as the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.
• This ferry service will reduce the distance between Bhavnagar and Surat from 375 km (by road) to just 90 kilometres (by sea route).
• It will save time and fuel and boost eco and religious tourism in the Saurashtra region of the state.
• The three-deck Ro-Pax Ferry Vessel 'Voyage Symphony' connecting Hazira in Surat district of south Gujarat and Ghogha in Saurashtra's Bhavnagar has a load capacity of 30 trucks, 100 passenger cars, and 500 passengers plus 34 crew and hospitality staff
• The Ro-Pax terminal is 100 metre long and 40 metre wide costing approximately Rs 25 crore.
• A large number of people from Saurashtra have settled in Surat and are working in the diamond industry. There are about 5,000 buses plying daily between this route which takes around 10 to 12 hours.
• With the inauguration of the Ro-pax ferry, the time taken to reach Saurashtra will be just four hours. This is going to benefit the people from Saurashtra who are working here in Surat, in a major way.
• The ferry service will make three round trips per day on the Hazira-Ghogha route, is projected to annually transport about 5 lakh passengers, 80,000 passenger vehicles, 50,000 two-wheelers and 30,000 trucks.

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

9.1 AIM-Sirius Innovation Programme 3.0

 

 Highlights – 

• Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and Sirius, Russia, have launched 'AIM-Sirius Innovation Programme 3.0'- a 14-day virtual programme for Indian and Russian schoolchildren.
• The first Indo-Russian bilateral youth innovation initiative, the AIM-Sirius programme seeks to develop technological solutions (both web- and mobile-based) for the two countries.
• During the event, around 48 students and 16 educators and mentors will create 8 virtual products and mobile applications to address global challenges across a wide range of areas, in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic.
• The areas include culture, distance education, applied cognitive science, health and well-being, sports, fitness, and games training, chemistry, artificial intelligence, and digital financial assets.

Important details –

• In 2020, the cohort comprises the best Russian students from the Sirius Centre and the best Indian students and ATL in-charges from the top 150 teams of the 2019 ATL Marathon.
• In 2019, an Indian delegation of 25 students and 5 teachers visited the Sirius Centre, Russia, for a 7-day research-based programme.
• The teams created 8 different innovations in the areas of remote earth sensing, biological and genetic research, clean energy, data analytics and frontier technologies, and drones and robotics, which were then presented to Russian President Vladimir Putin on 5 December 2019.

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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 -

• The International Day of Families was celebrated on May 15.
• Udayan Mane won the TATA Steel Tour Championship at the Golmuri Golf Course in Jamshedpur.
• Tamil Nadu saw the holding of bull taming sport of ‘Jallikattu’ in Jan 2020.
• In telecom sector the term MSAI stands for Mobile Standard Alliance of India.

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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