Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 24-11-2020

Useful compilation of Civil Services oriented - Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 24-11-2020

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. Covid-19 – Oxford vaccine is 70% effective – Pharma major AstraZeneca has said its COVID-19 vaccine could be as much as 90% effective, giving the world’s fight against the global pandemic a new weapon, cheaper to make, easier to distribute and faster to scale-up than rivals. The British drugmaker said it will have as many as 200 million doses by the end of 2020, around four times as many as U.S. competitor Pfizer. Seven hundred million doses could be ready globally as early as the end of the first quarter of 2021. The vaccine on average prevented 70% of COVID-19 cases in late-stage trials in Britain and Brazil; the success rate rose to 90% if the vaccine was administered as a half dose followed by a full dose. The efficacy was 62% if the full dose was given twice, as it was for most study participants. No serious safety events were confirmed.
2. Law & Constitution – Kerala puts new libel law on hold – The Kerala government has decided not to put into immediate effect an ordinance that sought to empower the police to prosecute persons disseminating defamatory content. Announcing the rollback, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said various quarters had aired scepticism about the recent revision to the Kerala Police Act, 2011. Hence, the government had decided not to implement the ordinance signed into law by Kerala Governor Arif Muhammad Khan last week. Alternatively, the government would seek a consensus by placing the amendment for debate in the Assembly.
3. World – China prepares probe to bring back lunar rocks – China is preparing to launch an unmanned spacecraft on November 24 to bring back lunar rocks, the first attempt by any nation to retrieve samples from the moon in four decades. Beijing is pouring billions into its military-run space programme, with hopes of having a crewed space station by 2022 and of eventually sending humans to the moon. The Chang’e-5 probe, named after the mythical Chinese moon goddess, aims to shovel up lunar rocks and soil to help scientists learn about the moon’s origins, formation and volcanic activity on its surface. The original mission, planned for 2017, was delayed due to an engine failure in China’s Long March 5 launch rocket. The mission is set to take off from the Wenchang Space Center on the southern island province of Hainan. If successful, China will be only the third country to have retrieved samples from the moon, following the U.S. and the Soviet Union in the 1960s and 1970s.
4. Economy – GDP set to shrink much less in Q2 – India’s economy is expected to post a smart recovery in the July-September quarter and the contraction witnessed in the June quarter will narrow significantly due to the impact of the festival demand and lifting of the strict lockdown in June. Economists estimate the contraction in the September quarter to be in the range of 5% to 9.9% — a sharp narrowing from the record decline of 23.9% in the June quarter. As per an RBI report, the economy may have entered into a technical recession for the first time with two successive quarters of contraction. The RBI expects the September quarter to post a contraction of 8.6%. However, a spate of economic indicators in the past few weeks have pointed to a recovery gathering pace and there are expectations that the 3rd or 4th quarter may post a small positive growth.
5. Business – Franklin MF moves SC over closure of 6 schemes – Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund has moved the Supreme Court, challenging the Karnataka high court order to take permission from investors to close down six of its debt schemes. On April 23, Franklin MF had decided to close these schemes with funds worth about Rs 26,000 crore at that time. On October 24, the Karnataka HC upheld the decision taken by the trustee of the fund to wind-up the schemes. It also upheld the constitutional validity of some of the Sebi regulations relating to winding up of MF schemes. However, the HC had said that consent of the unitholders would be required to wind up the schemes.
6. World – Biden picks for crucial posts signal return of US globalism – Traditional foreign policy marked by globalism and routine international engagement between Washington and other world capitals is poised to return with the nomination of Democratic veterans of the Barack Obama era to key cabinet positions in a Joe Biden administration. The president-elect has confirmed that he will name Antony Blinken, one of his longest-serving foreign policy advisers, as secretary of state, and Jake Sullivan, who also worked with him, as the National Security Adviser. Both have worked extensively on the India portfolio with visits to New Delhi and engagement with South Block in the decade before the Trump presidency. Most recently, they led the Biden-Harris foreign policy team’s outreach to Indian-Americans at an August 2020 event where they underscored the high priority Biden placed on ties with New Delhi.
7. People & Personalities – Former Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi Dies At 86 – Tarun Gogoi, three-time former Assam chief minister and the face of Congress in the state for decades, died in Guwahati on November 23 after three weeks of battling post-Covid complications. He was 86 and active in politics until he tested positive for the virus on August 25. The highlight of Gogoi’s third term as CM was setting in motion the process of resolving the problem of illegal migration from Bangladesh. The NRC was his “baby”. Gogoi had led Congress to its third consecutive term in the state in 2011, barely five months after recovering from triple heart surgeries in Mumbai.
8. Law & Constitution – Victims of objectionable content can’t keep tracking new links: HC – The Delhi HC has said a victim of objectionable online content cannot be expected to keep on looking for fresh links and make complaints each time and a permanent solution has to be found to this problem. The observation by Justice Navin Chawla came during hearing of a man’s plea claiming that his deceased wife’s photograph was being wrongly depicted on social media platforms as the victim of UP’s Hathras rape case.
9. World – Bhutan border village on disputed land – Chinese media has claimed that a new border village built by China near Bhutan was on Chinese territory, but released images of the village show its location on territory disputed by the two countries. The Global Times confirmed that the village of Pangda had been newly built and residents moved there in September. An image released by the newspaper placed the village in disputed territory, a couple of kilometres inside what Bhutan sees as its territory. Recently, however, Bhutan’s officials denied the village was on their territory. Chinese media reported there were 27 households, and the village was covered by asphalt roads and “has a public square, village committee, health room, police room, kindergarten, supermarket and plastic runway”.
10. World – Netanyahu flew secretly to Saudi to meet MbS: Report – PM Benjamin Netanyahu travelled to Saudi Arabia and met its crown prince, in what would be the first publicly confirmed visit there by an Israeli leader as the countries close ranks against Iran. Earlier, Israeli media said Netanyahu had secretly flown on Sunday to Neom, on the Red Sea, for talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and US secretary of state Mike Pompeo. Reports of the meeting between the crown prince and Netanyahu were denied by Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud. Netanyahu, in an apparent message to US President elect Joe Biden, said in a speech on November 22 there should be no return to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal abandoned by President Trump.

Important Exam Notifications
S. No.	Institution	Exam or Post Name	Vacancies or Seats	Qualification	Last Date to Apply	Link for Details
1	Min. of Envi., Forest & Climate Change	Legal Asst, MTS, LDC/ UDC, Technical Officer, Scientist C, D	7	Matriculation, 12th Class, Degree, PG	NOV-26-2020	http://moef.gov.in/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/NIC_Contractual-Staff_IRO_19.11.2020.pdf
2	NTPC Limited	Diploma Engineer	70	Diploma	DEC-12-2020	https://www.freejobalert.com/ntpc-recruitment/17710/#DiplomaEngineer
3	Indian Air Force	Airmen (Group Y – Non-Technical Trades)	-	Intermediate / 10+2	NOV-27-2020	https://airmenselection.cdac.in/CASB/img/upcoming/rally/PUDUCHERRY%20RALLY%20GP%20'Y'.pdf
4	Min. of Env., Forest & Climate Change	Legal Asst, MTS, LDC/ UDC, Technical Officer, Scientist C, D	7	Matriculation, 12th Class, Degree, PG	DEC-26-2020	http://moef.gov.in/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/NIC_Contractual-Staff_IRO_19.11.2020.pdf
5	Dr. YSR Aarogyasri HCT, Nellore	Aarogya Mithra & Team Leader	8	B.Sc, M.SC (Nursing), B Pharma, B.Sc	NOV-25-2020	https://cdn.s3waas.gov.in/s39c82c7143c102b71c593d98d96093fde/uploads/2020/11/2020112141.pdf
6	Dr. YSR Aarogyasri HCT, Krishna	Aarogya Mithra & Team Leader	13	B.Sc, M.SC (Nursing), B Pharma, B.Sc	NOV-28-2020	https://cdn.s3waas.gov.in/s3c399862d3b9d6b76c8436e924a68c45b/uploads/2020/11/2020112115.pdf
7	Indian Air Force	Airmen (Group Y – Non-Technical Trades)	-	Intermediate / 10+2	DEC-22-2020	https://airmenselection.cdac.in/CASB/img/upcoming/rally/PUDUCHERRY%20RALLY%20GP%20'Y'.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 Weekly Round-up

 

• New tweet against CJI - Attorney General grants consent to initiate contempt against comedian Kunal Kamra.
• KUWJ vs Union of India – Siddique Kappan was using ‘Garb or Journalism’ to disturb law and order in Hathras: UP govt tells SC. CJI S. A. Bobde, Justices S. A. Bopanna and V. Ramasubramaniam
• Union of India vs Beevikunju – Supreme Court issues notice on centre’s challenge to Kerala HC judgement which quashed preventive detention under COFEPOSA Act. Justices D. Y. Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra
• Gajendra Sharma vs UOI – Waiver of loan interest: Sufficient Relief Granted; Further intervention not needed, centre tells Supreme Court. Justices Ashok Bhushan, M. R. Shah, B. R. Gavai
• Ram Sharan Maurya and Ors. vs State of UP – Right to Education under Article 21 A envisages that teachers must be meritorious and the Best of the Lot: SC.
• Firoz Iqbal Khan vs UOI – Sudarshan TVs UPSC Jihad Show not  in “Good Taste”, likely to promote communal attitudes: MIB cautious channel. Justices D. Y. Chandrachud and Indira Banerjee
• Tej Bahadur vs Narendra Modi – “PMO unique, matter cannot be kept pending”: SC reserves order in plea against N. Modi’s election from Varanasi CJI S. A. Bobde. Justices A. S. Bopanna and V. Ramasubramaniun
• Fertico Marketing and Investment Pvt. Ltd. vs CBI investigation is in tune with federal character of constitution: Spreme Court. Justices A. M. Khanwilkar and B. R. Gavai.
• Rattan Singh vs Nirmal Gill – Registered document is presumed to be genuine; onus to prove otherwise is on person who challenges it, reiterates Supreme Court. Justice A. M. Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari.

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

2.1 Project Kirana 

Highlights – 

• Mastercard has partnered the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to launch Project Kirana that aims to empower women through financial inclusion and digital adoption of payments at the kirana shops owned and operated by them.
• The two-year programme would be initially implemented across Lucknow, Kanpur and Varanasi covering around 3,000 women entrepreneurs and would be scaled up later.
• The aim of the programme is to focus on building financial and digital literacy, improving basic business management skills and addressing the cultural and other barriers faced by women in becoming kirana entrepreneurs.
• The programme will be implemented by DAI Digital Frontiers and ACCESS Development Services. It will also include outreach to men and families in order to derive meaningful impact and reach.
• Alison Eskesen, vice-president of Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, has said that the three cities where it will start the programme will be a testing ground and prepare a roadmap for expansion to more states.
• Mastercard has announced a commitment of Rs 250 crore to help reboot Indian SMEs.

Note –

• UP is one of the most populous states of India. It also has the largest number of people engaged in the informal sector. Besides this, it has the largest number of MSMEs at 14%. The state has 10.3% of the total women employed in MSMEs which is also one of the largest after West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. Yet, within the state, not even 10% of the MSMEs are women-led.

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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 The Republican Ethic Volume III and Loktantra ke Swar  

 

Key points –

• Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Mr.Prakash Javadekar has unveiled e-book versions of two books ‘The Republican Ethic Volume III’ and ‘Loktantra Ke Swar’.
• The hard copy versions of the books have been unveiled by Defence Minister Mr.Rajnath Singh.

About the book –

• The Republican Ethic, Volume 3, is a collection of selected speeches of the President of India, Mr.Ram Nath Kovind during the third year of his presidency.
• Divided into eight sections, the 57 speeches covered in this volume reflect the thoughts and vision of President Kovind for building a new India that is forward looking, growing and also strongly rooted in its historical and cultural value systems.
• The ideals of justice, equality, fraternity, non-violence, universal brotherhood, inclusive growth and special concern for vulnerable segments of the society are recurrent themes in his speeches.
• The book contains his vision of a vibrant India of the 21st century, powered by its gifted people and guiding our world towards a safer and greener future.
• This volume, includes a special section wherein the President expresses his contemplations on two great souls, Gautam Buddha and Mahatma Gandhi, and the significance of their preachings, especially in the twenty-first century.
• An ardent believer of Gandhian ideals, the President reposes utmost faith in the moral compass that the Mahatma gifted to humanity to help it navigate out of its ordeals. It became all the more relevant in 2019-20, as the world celebrated the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
• These speeches provide a window to the worldview of the President and also an insight into the principles and beliefs he values.

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• 7. POLITY (Prelims, GS Paper 2)

7.1 New portal for defence land management 

 

Highlights –

• With almost 9,800 acres of military land having being encroached upon across the country, the Ministry of Defence has launched a land management system (LMS) to have better efficiency.
• This will integrate several mapping tools into the existing “Raksha Bhoomi” software, which was launched with the data updated in 2011.
• The LMS developed by the Department of Defence in conjunction with the Director General Defence Estates and the Armed forces has been formally launched by Rajnath Singh.
• The software, apart from capturing the textual details of all proposals relating to defence management, integrates these details as well as other relevant aspects, including satellite imagery of the area and other amenities.
• The intra-net portal will digitise all requests of defence land management received by the department in future.
• It is also in process of progressively capturing archival data into the system.
• All data for cases since 2016 have already been captured and are available in the portal.
• Progressively, data of the prior period will also be entered in the portal which is meant only for departmental use and it is not open for the public.

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

8.1 World Toilet Day 

Highlights – 

• World Toilet Day (WTD) is an official United Nations international observance day on 19 November to inspire action to tackle the global sanitation crisis.
• Worldwide, 4.2 billion people live without "safely managed sanitation" and around 673 million people practice open defecation.
• Sustainable Development Goal 6 aims to "Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all". In particular, target 6.2 is to "End open defecation and provide access to sanitation and hygiene".
• World Toilet Day exists to inform, engage and inspire people to take action toward achieving this goal.
• The UN General Assembly declared World Toilet Day an official UN day in 2013, after Singapore had tabled the resolution (its first resolution before the UN's General Assembly of 193 member states). Prior to that, World Toilet Day had been established unofficially by the World Toilet Organization (a Singapore-based NGO) in 2001.
• UN-Water is the official convener of World Toilet Day. UN-Water maintains the official World Toilet Day website and chooses a special theme for each year. In 2019 the theme was 'Leaving no one behind', which is the central theme of the Sustainable Development Goals.
• Themes in previous years include nature-based solutions, wastewater, toilets and jobs, and toilets and nutrition.

Theme 2020 –

• Sustainable sanitation and climate change.

Important details –

• Toilets are important because access to a safe functioning toilet has a positive impact on public health, human dignity, and personal safety, especially for women.
• Sanitation systems that do not safely treat excreta allow the spread of disease.
• Serious soil-transmitted diseases and waterborne diseases such as cholera, diarrhea, typhoid, dysentery and schistosomiasis can result.

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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 World Television Day

 

Highlights – 

• The United Nations’ (UN) World Television Day is annually observed in many places around the world on November 21.
• In December 1996 the United Nations proclaimed 21 November as World Television Day commemorating the date on which the first World Television Forum was held in 1996.
• The day recognizes that television plays a major role in presenting different issue that affect people.
• World Television Day is a day to renew governments’, organizations’ and individuals’ commitments to support the development of television media in providing unbiased information about important issues and events that affect society.
• The UN acknowledges that television can be used to educate many people about the world, its issues and real stories that happen on the planet.
• Television is one of the most influential forms of media for communication and information dissemination. It is used to broadcast freedom of expressions and to increase cultural diversity.

Symbols –

• The UN logo is often associated with marketing and promotional material for this event.
• It features a projection of a world map (less Antarctica) centered on the North Pole, inscribed in a wreath consisting of crossed conventionalized branches of the olive tree.
• The olive branches symbolize peace and the world map depicts the area of concern to the UN in achieving its main purpose, peace and security.
• The projection of the map extends to 60 degrees south latitude, and includes five concentric circles.

10.2 Daily dose of  FIVE Facts -

• According to Collins Dictionary Lockdown is the Word of The Year in 2020.
• Sanjay Kumar Mishra is the Enforcement Directorate chief.
• Lewis Hamilton won the Formula One Portuguese Grand Prix in Oct 2020.
• The US President is elected for a four-year term.
• The currency of Lebanon is Lebanese Pound.

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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