Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 21-11-2020

Useful compilation of Civil Services oriented - Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 21-11-2020

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. Science & Technology – Mittal, UK govt to offer global telecom connectivity via space – OneWeb, Sunil Mittal and the UK government’s rival venture to Elon Musk’s SpaceX will start beaming signals to India, along with several parts of Europe and the UK, sometime in 2021 once half its planned 648 satellites are launched. Mittal’s son Shravin has been the driving force behind the venture and for India, the company plans to work with ISRO as it aims to beam telecom signals from space to connect rural areas, tough mountainous terrains, aircraft, defence establishments and ships and ports. In the first phase starting around October 2021, the UK, North Europe and North Russia would be covered by the footprint. Bharti Global and the UK government are equal partners in the venture, holding 42.5% each.
2. Covid-19 – At 46.3k, fresh cases in India at 9-day high – India reported 46,328 fresh cases on Friday (November 20), the highest since November 11, as the trend of rising cases continued for the fifth day running. The day’s death toll was 563, staying above 550 for the third day although the number had reduced from Thursday's (November 19) high of 589. For the second time within the last seven days, active cases in the country did not register a decline on Friday, another sign that the pandemic could be rising again. The count of active cases remained unmoved at 4,45,804 on Friday while it had increased by 346 last Saturday (November 14). That was the first day since October 1 that the count had not registered a decrease. Across north and central India, there were signs that the Covid-19 pandemic was surging again post-Diwali. While Haryana (3,104 fresh cases) reported more than 3,000 cases in a day for the first time, Rajasthan too reported its highest ever addition of 2,762 infections. Uttar Pradesh recorded 2,858 fresh cases, the highest since October 17 while Gujarat its highest single-day addition of cases since September 25 at 1,420.
3. Study/Research – India loses $10.3bn tax each yr: Study – Countries are losing over $427 billion in taxes each year owing to international corporate tax abuse and private tax evasion. India’s annual tax loss aggregates to $10.3 billion. The report explains that of the $427 billion in tax globally lost by countries each year to tax havens, $245 billion (or 57.4%) is directly lost owing to corporate tax abuse by MNCs and $182 billion (or 42.6%) to private tax evasion. Solutions suggested are that governments should introduce an excess profit tax on MNCs, such as global digital companies, who are making excess profits during the pandemic. Experts have also proposed introduction of wealth tax with punitive rates for opaquely owned offshore assets. Lastly, as OECD is perceived as a rich countries conglomerate, they seek a United Nations (UN) tax convention to set multilateral standards for corporate taxation and ensure tax co-operation between governments.
4. Business – CCI approves RIL-Future’s retail biz deal – In a major setback for US e-tailer Amazon, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved Reliance Industries (RIL)’s bid to acquire the retail, wholesale, logistics and warehousing businesses of Kishore Biyani-led Future Group. Amazon, which is locked in a bitter legal feud with Future Group in the Delhi high court, has sought to block the Rs 24,713-crore deal, alleging contractual violations by the latter. Amazon, an investor in an unlisted Future Group company, Future Coupons, won an interim award against the deal from a Singapore-based arbitrator last month, prompting Future Retail to approach the Delhi high court to prevent the e-tailer from interfering in the deal.
5. World – Scot Douglas Stuart bags Booker, PIO misses out – Scottish writer Douglas Stuart won the Booker Prize for fiction “Shuggie Bain”, a novel about a boy’s turbulent coming of age in hardscrabble 1980s Glasgow that was turned down by 32 publishers before being picked up. Stuart, 44, won the prestigious £50,000 pound award for his first published novel, the product of a decade of work.’ A former fashion designer who is based in New York, Stuart drew on his own experiences growing up gay in economically ravaged Thatcher-era Glasgow for the story of young Shuggie and his relationship with his alcoholic mother, Agnes.
6. Covid-19 – WHO advises against using remdesivir on Covid patients – The WHO recommended against using Gilead’s remdesivir to treat hospitalised Covid-19 patients less than a month after US regulators granted the drug a speedy approval. The global health body also suspended the drug from its so called prequalification list, an official list of medicines used as a benchmark for procurement by developing countries. The recommendation is a blow to Gilead’s drug. The antiviral was among the drugs US President Trump received when he was diagnosed with Covid early October. The experts made the recommendation after a WHO sponsored global trial found last month that remdesivir didn’t reduce deaths.
7. World – Trump accelerates slow motion ‘coup’ – Republican lawmakers from Michigan were summoned to the White House as defeated US President Trump continued efforts to subvert results of the presidential elections amid continued deadlock over transfer of power to incoming President-elect Joe Biden. State lawmakers are being told to defy the popular mandate that the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris ticket won and award Michigan’s 16 electoral votes to Trump on the grounds that the election was tainted, a contention Trump’s team has been unable to prove in court. Similar efforts are under way in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin to steal their 20+10 electoral votes already won by Biden to deprive him of the presidency.
8. Economy – Tatas, Aditya Birla look to reopen banking account – Two of India’s largest conglomerates — Tata and Aditya Birla — have decided to evaluate applying for a banking licence, if RBI guidelines favour them. Recently, an RBI committee recommended offering such licences to industrial houses by making necessary amendments in banking laws. It has also recommended allowing NBFCs, owned by industrial houses, with an asset size of over Rs 50,000 crore, to be converted into banks. Tata’s NBFC arm, Tata Capital, has an asset size of over Rs 74,500 crore, while Aditya Birla’s NBFC unit Aditya Birla Capital has an asset size of over Rs 59,000 crore.
9. Economy – Govt hopes Biden reviews e-tax policy – The government expects the Joe Biden administration to review Donald Trump’s stance on countering India’s digital service tax, which is levied on companies such as Google and Netflix. As per reports, the US will soon issue the results of probes into Austria, Italy and India’s decisions to tax local revenue of internet companies such as Facebook, which could pave the way for retaliatory tariffs. Determinations on the three countries are due because all of them have instituted the so-called digital services taxes — or levies on local sales of companies such as Alphabet’s Google — this year, said the people who couldn’t be identified because the information is private. There may also be findings on Indonesia, the UK and Turkey.
10. Education – Haryana shuts all schools till Nov. 30 – In the wake of an increasing number of students testing positive for COVID-19, the Haryana government has decided to shut all public and private schools in the State till the end of this month. Premises of all schools will be sanitised during this period. The directions came in the wake of media reports suggesting that over 100 students and teachers across three Haryana districts got infected since schools reopened two months ago.

Important Exam Notifications
S. No.	Institution	Exam or Post Name	Vacancies or Seats	Qualification	Last Date to Apply	Link for Details
1	SBI	Apprentice	8500	Any Degree	DEC-10-2020	http://www.freejobalert.com/sbi-online/20638/#Apprentice
2	ESIC, New Delhi	Specialist Gr II (Jr Grade)	15	PG	DEC-24-2020	https://www.esic.nic.in/attachments/recruitmentfile/d531803693ebd37c5fb252c1a2581b0b.pdf
3	CECRI	Pro. Asso. - I, II, SRF, JRF	5	B.E, B.Tech (Chem. Eng.), M.Sc, PhD	DEC-1-2020	https://www.cecri.res.in/Portals/0/Careers/PS-05-2020_AdvtCopy.pdf
4	National Metallurgical Lab.	Pro. Asso.-I, II, Pro. Scientist, Pro. Assistant	49	B.Sc, Dip. (Engg), B. Tech, PG, PhD	DEC-3-2020	B.Sc, Diploma (Engg), B Tech, PG, Ph.D
5	East Central Railway	Contract Medical Practitioner, GDMO	5	MBBS, Diploma, MD, MS	DEC-7-2020	https://ecr.indianrailways.gov.in/cris//uploads/files/1605683885406-signed%20notification.pdf
6	A&N Union Territory Health Mission	GDMO, Medical Officer, Consultant	18	Deg, MBBS, PG Deg	23, 24 & 25-11-2020 – Walk in	https://www.andaman.gov.in/admin-pannel/whatsnew/1-232-Vacancy%20Notice%20Publication%20under%20NHM%20.pdf
7	SSA, Assam	Assam Secondary TET 2020	-	PG, B.Ed	NOV-30-2020	http://www.freejobalert.com/assam-tet/87751/#SecondaryTET-2020

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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 Moody’s lowers India’s GDP contraction forecast

 

 

Highlights – 

• Moody's Investors Service has revised its forecast for India's real gross domestic product (GDP) for the current fiscal 2020-21 from 11.5% contraction earlier to 10.5% contraction.
• It also revised upwards its expectation for GDP growth rate to 10.8 percent for 2021-22 from the earlier 10.6 percent.
• Moody’s has said that the additional stimulus measures announced by the government recently are aimed at increasing manufacturing competitiveness and creating jobs while supporting infrastructure investment, credit availability to stressed sectors.
• The rating agency, however, said consumer confidence in India continues to remain relatively weak amid a relentless rise in fresh coronavirus cases, even as it said that the numbers peaked in September.
• India's economy contracted by a record 23.9% in the June quarter, due to a significant impact from the nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

The report –

• Stronger nominal GDP growth over the medium term would make it easier for India's government to address its weak fiscal position, which the coronavirus has exacerbated.
• The rating agency forecast government debt to increase to 89.3% of GDP in fiscal 2020 and decline to 87.5% in fiscal 2021, from an already elevated 72.2% in fiscal 2019.

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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 India-Luxembourg virtual summit 

Highlights –

• PM Modi pitched for the strengthening of cooperation in a range of areas like financial and digital technologies. Luxembourg is the third-largest source of Foreign Portfolio Investments (FPI) for the country.
• PM Modi was addressing the first summit in two decades between the two countries.
• PM Modi also talked about the common values like democracy, rule of law and freedom which have strengthened the bilateral ties.
• PM Modi also talked about possible cooperation between the two countries in dealing with the economic and health challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic.
• He also welcomed Luxembourg's announcement to join the International Solar Alliance (ISA).
• The ISA, initiated by India, is an alliance of over 120 countries which is focused on working for efficient consumption of solar energy to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
• PM Modi also invited Luxembourg to join the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).

Important details –

• Luxembourg is one of the most important financial centres globally. Several Indian companies have raised capital by issuing Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs) at the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.
• Several Luxembourg-based investment funds hold substantial banking and asset management market share in portfolio investments in India.
• Luxembourg is a key country in the European Union (EU) and is also the third-largest source of FPI in India after the US and Mauritius accounting for approximately 8.5 per cent of these investments.
• India and Luxembourg have longstanding cooperation in the steel sector.
• Luxembourgish company Paul Wurth has been in India for the last two decades and played an important role in upgrading the steel sector in India in collaboration with SAIL, TISCO and Jindal Steel.
• ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steel-producing company, is based out of Luxembourg and recently entered into a joint-venture in India, partnering with Nippon Steel.

4.1 Weekly Round-up  - Foreign Affairs II    

• Qatar’s ruler said on November 4, 2020 that a vote for the country’s policy reviewing chamber will be held in October 2021, marking the Gulf emirate’s first national election. The currently un-elected Shura Council advises the absolute ruler, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, on draft laws but does not create its own legislation and can be overruled by a simple decree.
• Saudi Arabia on November 4, 2020 announced reforms that will abolish some key restrictions tying migrant workers to their employers in conditions that have been rife with abuse and exploitation. The reforms will allow foreign workers the right to change jobs by transferring their sponsorship from one employer to another, leave and re-enter the country and secure final exit visas without the consent of their employer.
• The United Arab Emirates announced on November 7, 2020 a major overhaul of the country's Islamic personal laws, allowing unmarried couples to cohabitate, loosening alcohol restrictions and criminalising so-called honour killings.
• The Interpol has created two secure and flexible services to facilitate cybercrime related communication among law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders. The Cybercrime Knowledge Exchange workspace will handle general, non-police information and is open to all relevant users. The Cybercrime Collabo
• rative Platform-Operation will assist in the law enforcement operations, with access restricted to the operational stakeholders only.
• Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on November 6, 2020 that military operations launched in the northern region of Tigray had limited objectives, as concern mounts over a possible slide into war. Abiy announced on November 4, 2020 that he had ordered military operations in Tigray in response to an “attack” by the TPLF (Tigray People’s Liberation Front) on a military camp there.
• The Bangladesh and US Navies held the ‘Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) Bangladesh-2020’ in November 2020 to expand relationships and broaden maritime awareness between the two countries. The sea-phase of the exercise took place in the Bay of Bengal.
• The first nuclear power plant in Belarus began operating on November 3, 2020. The Russian-built Astravyets nuclear power plant is 40 km south of the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, has been connected to Belarus' power grid and has started producing electricity, according to Belarusian electricity operator Belenergo.
• The United States said on November 6, 2020 it had revoked the designation of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), which is active in China’s Muslim-majority Xinjiang region, as a “terrorist organization.”
• Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev said on November 8, 2020 that his country's forces had taken Shusha, the second-largest city in the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, but Armenian officials denied the city had been captured.
• In Guatemala, death toll reached to around 150 from torrential downpour triggered by storm Eta. Eta had made landfall in neighbouring Nicaragua on November 3 as a Category Four hurricane with winds of 225 km per hour and torrential rains.
• The World Tsunami Awareness Day was observed on November 5. The day encourages the development of disaster risk reduction strategies to save more lives against disasters. The Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004 caused an estimated 227,000 fatalities in 14 countries, with Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand hardest-hit.
• International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict was observed on November 6, 2020. The objective is to help countries identify, prevent and transform tensions over natural resource as part of conflict prevention and peacebuilding programmes.
• The International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists was observed on November 2, 2020. The aim is to promote a safe and enabling environment for journalists to perform their work independently and without undue interference.
• The Governing Council of Geneva-based Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) is organising its 206th session in a virtual mode from November 1 to 4. On November 3, Duarte Pacheco of Portugal was elected the new President of IPU for the period 2020-2023. Indian Parliamentary Delegation led by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla attended the meeting.

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

5.1 Safai Mitra Suraksha Challenge

 

 

 Highlights –

• Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri has launched the Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge, aimed to ensure that no person needs to enter a sewer or septic tank, unless absolutely unavoidable in the interest of greater public hygiene.
• The goal of the initiative, that promotes mechanized cleaning, is to ensure that no life of any sewer or septic tank cleaner is ever lost again owing to the issue of 'hazardous' cleaning.
• The virtual event witnessed participation of representatives from 243 cities across the country, coming together to take a pledge to mechanize all sewer and septic tank cleaning operations by 30th April 2021.
• The initiative was launched on the occasion of World Toilet Day.
• The initiative is also in line with PM Modi’s vision, who has always placed the safety and dignity of sanitation workers at the core of the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U).
• AS per reports, India still continues to witness over hundred deaths per year due to manual scavenging.
• The Challenge will focus extensively on creating citizen awareness on this critical issue along with infrastructure creation for mechanized cleaning and capacity building of workforce. Along with this, a dedicated helpline number has been set up to register complaints and provide real-time solutions on desludging or sewer overflow.
• The actual on-ground assessment of participating cities will be conducted in May 2021 by an independent agency and results of the same will be declared on 15 August 2021.
• Cities will be awarded in three sub-categories – with population of more than 10 lakhs, 3-10 lakhs and upto 3 lakhs, with a total prize money of ₹52 crores to be given to winning cities across all categories.

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• 6. MISCELLANEOUS (Prelims, Various GS Papers)

6.1 World Philosophy Day 2020

 

Key points –

• Every year, World Philosophy Day is observed on the third Thursday of November to strengthen people's commitment to philosophy by fostering philosophical analysis, research, and studies on major contemporary issues. It also raises awareness about the importance of philosophy.
• The 2020 edition of World Philosophy Day, was celebrated this year on November 19 and November 20.
• World Philosophy Day came into being after it was introduced by UNESCO in 2002. The international organisation set up this international day to honor philosophical reflections around the world.
• It is a day for people to share thoughts, openly explore and discuss new ideas, and inspire public debate or discussion on society’s challenges.

Theme –

• The theme of World Philosophy Day 2020 is the importance of philosophy in times of crisis.
• The 2020 edition of World Philosophy Day invited reflection on the meaning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

History –

• The UNESCO has declared World Philosophy Day to be celebrated on every 3rd Thursday of the day encourages academic exchange and highlights the contribution of philosophical knowledge in addressing global issues. November, starting 2005.
• In 2020, the third Thursday of the month was November 19.
• In 2002, World Philosophy Day was first introduced by UNESCO (the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).
• The goal is to promote an international culture of philosophical debate that respects human dignity and diversity.

Philosophy –

• Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved.
• The term was probably coined by Pythagoras.

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• 7. POLITY (Prelims, GS Paper 2)

7.1 Weekly Round-up

 

• India's public broadcaster Prasar Bharati on November 4, 2020 entered into an MoU with the Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geo-Informatics under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to launch 51 direct-to-home (DTH) education TV channels. Under the ambit of this MoU, 51 DTH education TV channels comprising Swaymprabha (22 channels) (M/o Education), e-Vidya for classes 1 to 12 (12 channels) of NCERT, Vande Gujarat (Govt. of Gujarat) (16 channels) and DigiShala under M/o Electronics and IT (1 channel) shall be available as DD co-branded channels to all DD FreeDish viewers.  This move aims to bring quality educational programmes to every household, including those in rural and remote areas. The services will be available free of cost for all the viewers 24x7.
• Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on November 4, 2020 launched Nurturing Neighbourhoods Challenge focusing on shaping cities for young children and their families. The challenge is conducted with the support of the Bernard van Leer Foundation, Netherlands with technical support from WRI lndia. Through the challenge, selected cities will receive technical assistance and capacity-building to reimagine parks and open spaces, improve access to early childhood facilities, adapt public spaces with early childhood-oriented amenities and create accessible, safe, walkable streets for young children and families.  The challenge will be open to all Smart Cities, other cities with more than five lakh population, and capitals of States and Union Territories.
• The DRDO on November 4, 2020 said it successfully test-fired a new version of the Pinaka rocket system off the coast of Odisha. A total of six rockets were launched in quick succession and the tests met "complete mission objectives". The Pinaka rockets have a range of around 37 km.
• Indian Coast Guard (ICG) ship C-452 was commissioned in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra on November 3, 2020. The ship was indigenously designed and built by Larsen & Toubro.
• The Central Vigilance Commission observed the 2020 Vigilance Awareness Week from October 27 to November 2 with the theme: 'Vigilant India, Prosperous India'.  
• Information Commissioner Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha was administered the oath as the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) on November 7, 2020 by the President. Sinha, aged 62, will have a tenure of about three years. A CIC or Information Commissioner is appointed for a tenure of five years or till he or she attains the age of 65 years. Later, Uday Mahurkar (Journalist), Heera Lal Samariya (former labour secretary) and Saroj Punhani (former Deputy CAG) were administered the oath as Information Commissioners by Sinha.

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

8.1 3rd Naturopathy Day observed at Nisargopchar Ashram in Urli Kanchan on November 18

 

Key points – 

• Every year, the National Naturopathy Day is observed in India on 18 November, to promote positive mental and physical health through drugless system of medicine, called as Naturopathy.
• The Naturopathy Day was declared by the Ministry of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy), Government of India, on November 18, 2018.
• In 2020, National Institute of Naturopathy (NIN), Pune under Ministry of AYUSH organised a series of webinars on ‘Gandhian philosophy of Self Reliance through Self Health Reliance’ on Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary celebrations from October 2, 2020.
• The 48-day program of webinars continued till the third National Naturopathy Day, which was on 18 November 2020.
• On this day in 1945, Mahatma Gandhi became life time Chairman of the All India Nature Cure Foundation Trust and signed the deed with the object of making the benefits of Nature Cure available to all classes of people.

Theme – 2020

• Nurturing Vitality Through Naturopathy.

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

9.1 Weekly Round-up

• India's PSLV-C49 carrying its latest earth observation satellite EOS-01 and nine customer satellites lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota (AP) on November 7, 2020. EOS-01 is intended for applications in agriculture, forestry and disaster management support. The customer satellites are from Lithuania (1), Luxembourg (4) and USA (4).  
• The India Meteorological Department (IMD) will start issuing forecast for malaria outbreaks from next monsoon, Ministry of Earth Sciences secretary M Rajeevan said on November 7, 2020. He was speaking at a lecture on 'recent advances in weather and climate predictions', organised by the Indian Academy of Sciences.
• The Supreme Court on November 5, 2020 asked the Centre to issue directions for banning use of disinfectants and ultra violet rays on humans for COVID-19 management. The court passed the verdict on a plea seeking directions to the Centre to forthwith ban the installation, production and advertisement of disinfection tunnels involving spraying or fumigation of chemical disinfectants on humans.

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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 -

• According to data released by RBI, India's services trade surplus in 2019-20 was 80.07 billion.
• Joao Felix of Portugal was named winner of the ‘Golden Boy’ trophy given to the best under-21 Football player in Europe.
• Yashin trophy was given for the best goalkeeper in the world at the 2019 Ballon d’Or awards.
• Atul Karwal was appointed as Director of Hyderabad-based Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy in Dec 2019.
• The country's first waste exchange platform that will help connect buyers and sellers of different kinds of waste was launched for Chennai in Dec 2019.

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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