Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 18-11-2020

Useful compilation of Civil Services oriented - Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 18-11-2020

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. Law & Constitution – MP to bring ‘love jihad’ law, 5-yr RI for violators – Madhya Pradesh will bring in a legislation to make “love jihad” a cognisable and non-bailable offence, punishable by five-year rigorous imprisonment. UP, Haryana, Assam and Karnataka—all BJP governed, like MP— have spoken of such a law, but MP has taken the first step. On November 2, a day before the bypolls, CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan had said his government was making “legal arrangements” to end “love jihad”. A week after sweeping the polls, the bill would have provisions to declare forced marriage and conversions null and void. Collaborators in the crime will be treated as ‘main accused’. The parents or siblings of the person who has been converted need to file a complaint for action to be taken.
2. Covid-19 – Delhi’s Covid rise fastest among 8 metros in Nov; Pune still worst – Delhi and Kolkata have seen the fastest rise in Covid cases and deaths in November among India’s largest megapolises, but Pune continues to have the highest number of total cases and deaths per million, while Ahmedabad by far has the highest case fatality rate. After touching the highest number of daily cases on November 14, Delhi’s figures are showing signs of abating over the last three days, though whether it is the usual or festive weekend dip remains to be seen. Different metros hit their peak load of daily cases at different points of time. Ahmedabad hit it as far back as in May, Chennai in July and Bengaluru in October. Mumbai and Pune hit it in September, after which there has been a steady decline in numbers. In Kolkata, the numbers started declining from November 4, when it touched an all-time high of 2,473 cases.
3. Polity & Governance – Govt caps withdrawals from LVB at ₹25k, RBI plans merger with DBS – In a joint operation, the RBI has announced a plan to merge Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) with DBS Bank India, minutes after the government imposed a moratorium on the beleaguered lender, limiting cash withdrawals to Rs 25,000 for a month. The proposed amalgamation with the Indian subsidiary of Singapore’s DBS Bank marks a shift in RBI and the government’s stand, as a foreign bank has been tasked with reviving an ailing oldgeneration private lender, instead of relying on public sector players to take over a problematic rival. Chennai-headquartered LVB that started in Karur, then a textile town in Tamil Nadu, has been under severe financial stress, with ballooning bad loans and in need of urgent capital infusion. LVB’s troubles started with the shift in focus from lending to small businesses to large players. In 2016-17, it intensified after it disbursed loans of around Rs 720 crore to the investment arms of Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh, former promoters of Ranbaxy, Fortis Healthcare and Religare, against Religare Finvest’s fixed deposits of Rs 794 crore.
4. Economy – Goldman sees narrower GDP contraction of 10.3% – Goldman Sachs has revised upwards its estimate for India’s GDP this year to a 10.3% contraction from a 14.8% contraction projected earlier, and expects the economy to grow by as much as 13% in 2021-22, higher than other forecasts made so far. The financial services firm’s projections are driven by expectations of broad-based availability of an effective vaccine in India that could allow containment policies and mobility to normalise by mid-2022. This would allow activity to rebound in consumer-facing sectors that continue to languish significantly below pre-COVID activity levels.
5. World – Amid protests, Peru gets its third President in a week – Peruvian lawmaker Francisco Sagasti is set to be sworn in as interim President after being voted for by Congress in a bid to help calm anger on the streets amid deadly protests and the departure of two Presidents over the past week. Mr. Sagasti, a legislator from the centrist Purple Party, will be sworn in to fulfil a government mandate until July next year, which would include holding a new presidential election scheduled for April 11. The Andean nation has been shaken since the abrupt ouster in an impeachment trial of popular leader Martin Vizcarra on November 9. Mr. Sagasti will be Peru’s 4th President in less than three years, after the departures of Mr. Vizcarra and Mr. Merino, and the resignation of Mr. Kuczynski in 2018 on allegations of corruption.
6. World – Sri Lanka to open up Chinese-backed ‘port city’ – A mega Chinese real-estate development in Sri Lanka will open early 2021 offering tax concessions to attract investors and revive the struggling economy. Colombo Port City — a $1.4 billion land reclamation project beside the capital’s port which started in 2014 — has doubled the size of Sri Lanka’s current financial district. The development — the largest single foreign investment in Sri Lanka so far — is one of several massive Asian infrastructure projects funded by China as Beijing increases its footprint in the region. Officials said that Sri Lanka will aim to cut its fiscal deficit to 4% over the medium-term,  from the 9% foreseen in 2021.
7. Survey/study – ‘Mobile users shrunk by 1.7cr during lockdown’ – The number of wireless (mobile) subscribers in India shrank by 1.7 crore to 114 crore in April-June — when a national lockdown was in force — and was yet to reach the pre-April level even by August end, despite additions reported in the two months after June. The decline in the June quarter is largely because of a dip in urban subscribers; rural subscriptions actually increased. While urban users increased in July and August, rural subscriptions increased in July and dipped in August. The number of total wireless subscribers decreased to 114 crore in end-June from 115.7 crore (1,157.7 million) at the end of March.
8. Covid-19 – First time since Aug, daily tests below 9L for 3 days – Daily Covid-19 cases in India rose to over 38,000 on November 17 after dropping below 30,000 the previous day but number of tests conducted in the country continued to remain low for the fourth day running. There were 8,44,382 tests conducted for detecting coronavirus cases in India on November 16, as per the covid19india website quoting ICMR data. For the first time in three months, the daily number of tests has remained below 9 lakh for three days running. On November 13 too, some 9.3 lakh tests were conducted.
9. Survey/study – Record 43% drop in new foreign students in US – The US witnessed a historic drop of 43% in fresh international student enrolment at its higher education campuses this fall (August entry) as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. This drop included international students studying in the US and those studying online from their home countries. Data from 700 campuses also showed that 90% of the institutions reported international student deferrals in Fall 2020. These institutions indicated that nearly 40,000 students had deferred enrolment to a future term. International students in the US and those studying online, including fresh and currently enrolled candidates, dipped by 16% in 2020.
10. Law & Constitution – ‘Wife has right to know husband’s income under RTI’ – A wife is entitled to know about her husband’s gross income and can seek information about the same through RTI, the Central Information Commission has ruled. Such information cannot be considered as pertaining to a third party or beyond the definition of disclosable information under the RTI, the commission clarified while rejecting the denial of information to a wife seeking data about her husband’s gross and taxable income besides directing the Income Tax department of Jodhpur to provide her with the same within 15 days of the order. The petitioner had filed an RTI application seeking a copy of her husband’s I-T return, following which an officer of the department issued a notice to the husband, apprising him about the data sought by his wife as it belonged to a third party. 

Important Exam Notifications
S. No.	Institution	Exam or Post Name	Vacancies or Seats	Qualification	Last Date to Apply	Link for Details
1	NRFMTTI	Multi Tasking Staff (Technical)	6	ITI (Relevant Trade)	30 DAYS	http://nerfmtti.nic.in/Recruitment/Filling%20up%20of%20posts%20of%20Multi%20Tasking%20Staff%20(Technical)%20in%20FMT&TIs%20by%20Direct%20recruitment.pdf
2	TRIFED	Procurement Executive	40	12th Class with Comp. knowledge	17 to 25-11-2020 Walk in	https://img.freejobalert.com/uploads/2020/11/Notification-TRIFED-Procurement-Executive-Posts.pdf
3	IIT, Guwahati	SRF, Associate Pro. Eng., Pro. Scientist	14	B.Tech, PG, Ph.D	NOV-16-2020	https://iitg.ac.in/ckfinder/userfiles/files/NANOSPNxDIT00041xxAC011_Rev%20(16-11-20).pdf
4	BEL	Trainee Eng -I, Pro. Eng. -I & Trainee Eng -II	385	B.E/ B.Tech/ B.Sc/ MCA	NOV-21-2020	http://www.freejobalert.com/bel/16294/#Trainee-Engineer
5	BEL	Trainee Eng. I, Officer I, Project Eng. I, Officer I	549	B.E/ B.Tech/ B.Sc (Engg), PG/ PG Dip.	NOV-25-2020	http://www.freejobalert.com/bel/16294/#Engineer-Officer
6	Deputy Comm., Bongaigaon	Junior Assistant	8	Any Degree	NOV-27-2020	https://niyukti.assam.gov.in/bongaigaon_ja/files/advertise.pdf
7	IIT, Guwahati	SRF, Associate Pro. Eng, Project Scientist	14	B. Tech, PG, Ph. D	NOV-16-2020	https://iitg.ac.in/ckfinder/userfiles/files/NANOSPNxDIT00041xxAC011_Rev%20(16-11-20).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 Analysis of Indian Economy – November 2020

 

Retail inflation — 

 

• Calculated by using the Consumer Price Index — surged to a 77-month high (highest since May 2014) of 7.61 per cent in Oct 20. Since Nov 2019, well before Covid-19, hit the world or Indian economy — retail inflation has trended consistently higher than expected. Much like the same time last year, unseasonal (and excessive) rains are the main reason for the spike in food prices. Higher fuel costs, thanks to high taxation by the government, have not helped. And Covid-induced supply disruptions have only made things worse.

Core inflation —

 

• Even “core inflation” (inflation rate without taking into account the prices of food and fuel, which tend to fluctuate the most) has steadily hardened since Nov 2019. The persistence of high core inflation is perhaps the most worrying trend. The most immediate implication of such high inflation in Oct is that RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) (due on Dec 5) to deliberate whether to cut interest rates (to encourage economic activity), will most likely dither from doing so. RBI has missed its inflation target for one reason or another in past twelve months. And that trend seems to be continuing, future is highly debatable. 

GDP Growth rate –

 

• According to RBI  India entered a “technical recession” (GDP growth rate stays in the negative territory for two consecutive quarters) in Sept. Incoming data for the month of October 2020 have brightened prospects and stirred up consumer and business confidence... If this upturn is sustained in the ensuing two months, there is a strong likelihood that the Indian economy will break out of contraction of the six months gone by and return to positive growth in Q3:2020-21, ahead by a quarter of the forecast provided in the resolution of the monetary policy committee in Oct 2020.
•  But, it is can also be argued that Indians are savings more and more — household financial savings jumped to 21.4% of GDP in the first quarter of 2020-21, up from 10% in the fourth quarter of 2019-20 — and, in the absence of incomes rising fast enough, this behaviour will likely inhabit fast economic recovery.

Employment –

 

• India’s annual GDP growth fell sharply between 2017-18 (7%) and 2019-20 (4.2%). A CARE Ratings study of over 1700 companies to evaluate the incremental employment, found that this deceleration had a sharp impact on the number of incremental (or new) employment. Barring Banks and FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods such as packaged food and toiletries), all other sectors employed fewer new people in FY20 as against FY19.

Non-performing assets (NPAs) in the banking sector -

• Gross NPAs of 31 banks have fallen from 8.7% of all advances in Dec 2019 to 7.7% of all advances in Sept 2020. This improvement is essentially because of the moratorium provided by the RBI — and not because companies are paying back their dues on time. A surge in NPAs is possible once such regulatory forbearance is over.

Government’s Policy -

• The government announced package Rs 1.46 lakh crore (third tranche of the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan package) for 10 key sectors, it can be argued that the PLI will help the Indian economy but it can also be argued that this scheme is spread over the next five years and it is unlikely to result in any new expenditure by the government in the current year. The actual additional spend is again much smaller than what initial announcements may suggest.

2.2 Goldman Sachs revises India GDP forecast

  

Highlights –

• Goldman Sachs has revised India’s GDP forecast for the ongoing financial year as the global investment bank expects economic activity in Asia’s third-largest economy to normalise faster than estimated, provided an effective Covid-19 vaccine is available.
• It expects India’s gross domestic product to contract 10.3% in 2020-21 against its earlier estimate of a negative growth of 14.8 per cent.
• GDP growth is estimated at 13% in FY22 compared with 15.7% projected earlier.
• India’s fiscal deficit is estimated at 8% of the GDP in FY21 and is expected to narrow to 6.5% of the GDP in FY22.
• The central government’s plus states’ fiscal deficit is estimated to narrow from 11.5% to 9.5% of the GDP in the same duration – this suggests that the total fiscal policy contribution to growth will decline further in FY22.
• Inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index is estimated at 6.2% in FY21, and is likely to go down to 4.6% in FY22 as food prices fall on easing supply restrictions, a benign monsoon, and favourable base effect.
• Core inflation could also moderate given low manufacturing capacity utilisation and rupee appreciation.
• The global financial services provider expects the RBI to cut policy rates by another 35 basis points in early 2021.

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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 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 Corporate World - easyjet posts first annual loss in 25-year  

 

Highlights –

• British airline easyJet has reported its first full-year loss in its 25-year history as a result of the coronavirus pandemic but laid out hope that the rollout of vaccines will help it bounce back strongly in 2021.
• European travel has been at very low levels for over eight months, forcing easyJet to take on more debt, tap shareholders for cash and sell dozens of its aircraft to boost its finances to survive until flying recovers.
• The airline posted a pretax loss of 1.27 billion pounds ($1.7 billion) for the year through September as passenger numbers halved to 48.1 million.
• The summer was particularly difficult, with the airline flying just 38% of its planned capacity during the peak holiday season.
• In 2019, the group had made a profit of 430 million pounds for the previous full year period.
• easyjet has slashed costs by 31% and bolstered its finances to weather the crisis, including raising 3.1 billion pounds. It is also opting against paying a dividend.
• The airline has agreed an extension of a 600 million pound UK government COVID-19 loan, meaning it now has longer to pay back half of the debt, and it has sought to reassure investors that it is well-set for now.

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• 7. POLITY (Prelims, GS Paper 2)

7.1 Not Available Today

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

8.1 International Students’ Day 2020

 

Highlights –

• Every year, the International Students’ Day is observed on 17 November each year as a global observance of student activism.
• The aim of the day is to ensure that every student has access to education around the globe.
• This day was first declared on November 17, 1941 by the International Students’ Council in London to commemorate the events of 1939 in Prague when Nazi troops had executed nine student leaders and sent over 1,200 pupils to concentration camps.
• Some universities now also celebrate it as a day of multiculturalism and organise events for youth engagement.

History –

• On November 17, 1939, Nazi troops had stormed the University of Prague after thousands of students came down on the streets to protest against their occupation of Czechoslovakia.
• The nine students who were executed on this day in Prague were — Josef Matousek, Jaroslav Klima, Jan Weinert, Josef Adamec, Jan Cerny, Marek Frauwirt, Bedrich Koukala, Vaclav Safranek and Frantisek Skorkovsky.
• Besides the execution of nine students, the Nazi army had also shut down Czech universities and colleges.
• In late 1939, Nazi authorities in Czechoslovakia had also suppressed a movement organised by students of the medical faculty at Charles University. This anti-Nazi resistance resulted in the death of Jan Opletal, a student.
• Opletal’s funeral, which took place about eight months later, became a huge protest by students against the occupation. But the Nazis had hit back. They not only closed universities and colleges, but also executed student leaders without trial and sent academic activists to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp.

Athens Polytechnic uprising –

• Another large student movement took place on November 17, 1973 when pupils of the Athens Polytechnic went on a strike against the military regime in Greece.
• Greece had been under a dictatorial military rule since 21 April 1967. The regime had abolished civil rights, dissolved political parties and exiled, imprisoned as well as tortured citizens.
• The students’ movement began on 14 November 1973, and escalated to an open anti-junta revolt, finally ending in bloodshed in the early morning of 17 November when military tanks were sent through the gates of the Polytechnic to quell the rebellion.
• In Greece, 17 November is also marked as a holiday for all educational establishments.

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

9.1 India successfully test-fires QRSAM for second time in four days

 

Highlights –

• The Defence Research and Development Organisation’s (DRDO) quick-reaction surface-to-air missile (QRSAM) system on November 17 shot down an aerial target from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur off the Odisha coast.
• This was the second test of the QRSAM system in four days.
• The QRSAM test on November 13 achieved a direct hit while the second one on November 17 proved the performance parameters of the warhead.
• The DRDO has carried out a series of weapons tests during the last three months at a time when India and China are locked in a border row in the Ladakh sector.
• A variety of equipment was deployed to capture the flight data and verify the performance of the missile. The equipment included radars and telemetry and electro-optical sensors.
• The test was conducted in the deployment configuration of the weapon system consisting of the launcher, fully automated command and control system, surveillance system and multi-function radars.

Important details –

• The crucial tests recently conducted by India include the supersonic missile-assisted release of torpedo (SMART) to target submarines at long ranges, a new version of the nuclear-capable hypersonic Shaurya missile with a range of 750 km and the anti-radiation missile launch to take down enemy radars and surveillance systems.
• India is also developing a new class of ultra-modern weapons that can travel six times faster than the speed of sound (Mach 6) and penetrate any missile defence.
• In early September 2020, the DRDO carried out a successful flight test of the hypersonic technology demonstrator vehicle (HSTDV) for the first time from a launch facility off the Odisha coast.
• Only the US, Russia and China have developed technologies to field fast-maneuvering hypersonic missiles that fly at lower altitudes and are extremely hard to track and intercept.

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

10.1 Hate crimes in the US highest in more than a decade

 

Highlights –

• According to an FBI report, hate crimes in the US rose to the highest level in more than a decade in 2019.
• Hate-motivated murders also rose to a record high in 2019, with 51 deaths - more than double the 2018 total.
• In August 2019, 22 people were killed in a shooting targeting Mexicans at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas.
• Hate crimes have been increasing in the US almost every year since 2014. Campaign groups warn this comes amid rising bigotry and racist rhetoric.
• There were 7,314 hate crimes in 2019, up from 7,120 the year before - and the highest number since 7,783 were recorded in 2008.
• A hate crime is defined in the report as offences "motivated by bias toward race, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender, and gender identity".
• The data showed a nearly 7% rise in religion-based hate crime, with a 14% increase in crimes targeting Jews or Jewish institutions.
• It also found anti-Latino hate crime rose 8.7% from 485 in 2018 to 527 in 2019 to the highest total since 2010.
• The killing of 22 people at the El Paso Walmart in 2019 is the worst hate crime attack ever recorded by the FBI, according to the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism.
• Black people were targeted in hate crimes more than any other group in the US. However, the number of hate crimes against African Americans dropped slightly to 1,930, from 1,943.
• Of all 4,930 victims of reported hate crimes motivated by race or ethnicity, 48.5% were victims of crimes motivated by offenders' anti-Black or African American bias, compared with 15.7% as victims of anti-White bias, 14.1% as victims of anti-Hispanic or Latino bias and 4.4% of anti-Asian bias.

10.2 Daily dose of  FIVE Facts -

• Zubair Iqbal was appointed as the new managing director of Jammu and Kashmir Bank.
• The Indian Rafale fighter jets will fly with the tail sign BS after former Air Force Chief Birender Singh Dhanoa.
• Former Union Minister ID Swami passed away at the age of 90 in Dec 2019.
• Amitabha Bagchi won the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2019 for ‘Half the Night is Gone’.
• Veteran actor and Doctor Shriram Lagoo passed away in Dec 2019 at the age of 92.

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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