Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 04-12-2020

Useful compilation of Civil Services oriented - Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 04-12-2020

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. Polity and Governance – Government offers to make eight changes to farm laws - After over seven hours of discussion, the fourth round of talks between the Centre and farmer leaders ended inconclusively. Although the Centre offered to consider eight amendments to the contentious farm reform laws and offered assurances that the minimum support prices (MSP) for farm produce would continue, farmer leaders continued to stand firm on their demand that all three laws be completely repealed. The dialogue is scheduled to resume on Saturday, but the continuing deadlock meant that farmers would not even eat the lunch and tea provided by the government at Vigyan Bhavan, preferring to bring in their own food from a gurdwara. The farmers also want the government to stop slapping large fines on farmers for burning stubble and to withdraw the Electricity Bill, 2020, which could affect power subsidies for farmers.
2. Education –  CISCE wants schools to reopen from January 4 - The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) has written to all Chief Ministers asking that its schools be allowed to reopen partially for Class X and XII students from Jan 4, 2021. This is needed for students to be able to complete project and practical work and to clear doubts with their teachers before the board exams. It said exam dates would be decided after taking into account the April-May election schedule. The CISCE conducts the ICSE (Indian Certificate of Secondary Education) examination for Class X and the ISC (Indian School Certificate) examination for Class XII students.
3. Polity and Governance – Rajini will launch party in Jan. 2021 - Putting an end to constant speculation, Tamil superstar Rajinikanth said he will launch his political party in January 2021, and the formal announcement regarding the same will be made on December 31, 2020. He said that his plans were affected because of the coronavirus pandemic and he did not want to be careless. The time has come to transform Tamil Nadu, the superstar said. His victory in politics will be the victory of the people, he said. He had made the announcement about him entering politics on Dec 31 in 2017. Rajini had met his district secretaries of RMM (Rajini Makkal Mandram) and had said he will make an announcement on the same soon while talking to the people. Rajini had called his line of politics spiritual, which was beyond religion, corruption and one for the welfare of the people.
4. Covid-19 Updates – At 1.6 bn doses, India No. 1 in deals for Covid vaccine: Study - As of Nov 30, India was leading the world in the number of “confirmed Covid-19 vaccine doses” for which orders have been placed, having “concluded contracts to get 1.6 billion doses”. The latest global vaccine procurement analysis by Duke University, which has been tracking advance commitments between countries and vaccine developers, put the European Union second and the US third. The EU will get 1.58 billion doses and the US will get over a billion doses, provided all the vaccine candidates they have struck deals to buy prove efficient in trials and are certified for use. India was in talks with vaccine makers to get up to 500 million doses by July-August 2021. The analysis doesn’t include China and Russia, both of which have their own vaccine programmes for citizens.
5. Environment and Ecology – Over a 100 Asiatic lions caged in zoos around Gir - A large part of Gir’s lion population, which amounted to 674 big cats in the 2020 census, is living in the state as captive population. The state forest department has more than 100 lions held in captivity in various zoos and gene pools in Junagadh and adjacent districts of Saurashtra. These zoo bred as well as wild lions represent nearly 15% of the total Asiatic lion population of Gujarat found in the wild. The actual numbers can be higher as many lions captured from the wild due to disability, disease and other reasons, may not be included in the list.
6. World – U.S. tightens visa rules for CCP members - The Trump administration issued new rules to curtail travel to the U.S. by members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and their immediate families, a move certain to further exacerbate tensions between the two countries. The new policy, which took immediate effect, limits the maximum duration of travel visas for party members and their families to one month. Previously, party members, like other Chinese citizens, could obtain visitor visas for the U.S. that were valid for ten years. Travel visas for party members will also be limited to a single entry rather than multiple entries as was possible before. The new measures do not affect party members’ eligibility for other kinds of visas, such as immigration or employment. No current visas would be revoked as a result of the policy changes.
7. World – Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, ‘reformist’ French president, dies at 94 - France’s former president Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, who brought about rapid social change and was a leading force in founding the European Union, died at the age of 94 from complications linked to Covid-19. Although d’Estaing only served a single term as president from 1974 to 1981, his death marks the end of an era in French politics. Elected to office when he was just 48 years old, Giscard d’Estaing was the youngest leader of the Fifth Republic until Emmanuel Macron won the presidency in 2017 at the age of 39. During his seven years at the Élysée presidential palace, the conservative Giscard d’Estaing cultivated an image as a modern reformist. Yet his unpopularity with French voters led to a failed re-election bid against his Socialist rival François Mitterand.  
8. India and its neighbourhood – Bangladesh begins shifting Rohingya - Bangladesh began transferring hundreds of Rohingya refugees to a low-lying island in an area prone to cyclones and floods, with rights groups alleging that people were being coerced into leaving. Over 20 buses carrying almost a thousand people left the camps in the Cox’s Bazar region, headed for Chittagong. They planned to transfer around 2,500 people in the first phase. Rights groups alleged that some refugees had been coerced into going. However, Foreign Minister A.K. Abdul Momen refuted the rights groups’ claims and said the refugees were going voluntarily.
9. India and its neighbourhood – Pak court jails JuD spokesman to fifteen years - Yahya Mujahid, spokesperson of Jamat-ud-Dawa (JuD), which is led by Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed, has been sentenced to another fifteen years in jail by a Pakistani anti-terrorism court (ATC) in a terror financing case. Last month, Mujahid was handed down 32 years’ jail term by the anti-terrorism court in two terror financing cases. Besides Mujahid, the ATC Lahore on Wednesday also handed down fifteen years imprisonment to JuD’s senior leader Zafar Iqbal and six months jail term to Saeed’s brother-in-law Hafiz Abdul Rehman Makki. Earlier, the ATC Lahore had sentenced Iqbal for 26 years’ imprisonment in three such cases.
10. Economy – RBI curbs HDFC Bank’s new digital businesses after e-banking outages - In an unprecedented move, the RBI has directed HDFC Bank to stop launches of new digital business activities and not to add new credit card customers following repeated outages in its electronic banking services. The regulator has also ordered the board of the country’s largest private lender to examine the lapses and fix accountability. Incidentally, the development happened on a day when SBI’s mobile banking app Yono too faced downtime. RBI’s action against HDFC Bank is the first time it has sought to penalise a bank by restricting business, rather than imposing a financial penalty, which is often a small amount. This is seen as an indication that RBI has taken serious cognisance of the outage of banking services at HDFC Bank, which accounts for a third of the country’s payments and has been classified as a systemically important bank, one that is “too big to fail”.

Important Exam Notifications
S. No.	Institution	Exam or Post Name	Vacancies or Seats	Qualification	Last Date to Apply	Link for Details
1	Bank of Baroda	Head	7	Any Degree	15-12-2020	https://www.bankofbaroda.in/writereaddata/Images/pdf/Detailed-Advertisement-Recruitment-of-Business-Heads-Final-25-11-2020.pdf
2	HLL Lifecare Limited	Executive, Commercial Asst, Pharmacist	20	ITI, Diploma, Degree	24-12-2020	https://img.freejobalert.com/uploads/2020/12/Notification-HLL-Lifecare-Various-Vacancy.pdf
3	BECIL	Patient Care Manager	5	Degree	15-12-2020	https://www.becil.com/uploads/vacancy/49b0754b0667757e378c8df52a5619b0.pdf
4	IIT, Delhi	Project Scientist, Sr. Project Scientist	6	B.Tech./ M.Sc/ M.Tech	14-12-2020	http://ird.iitd.ac.in/sites/default/files/jobs/project/IIRD-IRD-183-2020.pdf
5	NCDC	Assistant Director, Lab Technician, Lab Atten.	24	10+2, DMLT, BMLT, MSc	09-12-2020	https://ncdc.gov.in/showfile.php?lid=612

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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

 

•  State of Andhra Pradesh vs Dammalapati Srinivas – Supreme Court stays Andhra Pradesh High Court’s order on media reports and social media comments on Amaravati land scam FIR. Justices Ashok Bhushan, R. Subhash Reddy and M. R. Shah.
• Arnab Ranjan Goswami vs State of Maharashtra – Deprivation for a single day is a day too many, courts must ensure that criminal law does not become a weapon for selective harassment of citizens: SC in Arnab Goswami Judgement. Justices D. Y. Chandrachud and Indira Banerjee
• Tej Bahadur vs Narendra Modi – Tej Bahadur Yadav neither an elector nor a candidate in Varanasi; No locus to challenge PM’s election: Supreme Court
• MC Mehta vs Union of India – “De-sealing orders have lead to frantic activity of misuse and encroachment in Delhi”: monitoring committee tells Supreme Court. CJI S. A. Bobde, Justices A. S. Bopanna and V. Ramasubramanian.
• Md. Moin Faridullah Quereshi vs State of Maharashtra – Judgement which attains finality can’t be challenged in Article 32 petition: Supreme Court rejects 1993 Bombay blasts convict’s plea of Juvenility. Justices D. Y. Chandrachud, Indu Malhotra and Indira Banerjee
• Madras Bar Association vs Union of India and Anr – Supreme Court Directs to constitute national tribunal commission for appointments to tribunals, Lawyers with 10 years practice eligible for appointment as judicial members. Justices L. Nageshwara Rao, Hemant Gupta and S. Ravindra Bhat.
• AG Perarivalan vs UOI – Rajiv Gandhi assassination case: Supreme Court extends Perarivalan’s parole by a week. Justices L. Nageswara Rao, Hemant Gupta and S. Ravindra Bhat.

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

2.1 Not Available Today

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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 Weekly Round-up – Foreign Affairs II

• Over 2,000 representatives from 132 countries attended the virtual 4th Global Conference on Criminal Finances and Cryptocurrencies organised by the Interpol, Europol and the Basel Institute on Governance from November 18 to 19. The participants endorsed the recommendations on capacity building measures on ways to probe virtual assets and establishing clear regulatory framework to prevent money laundering.
• Leaders from the 21-nation Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum pledged to work toward free, open and non-discriminatory trade and investment to revive their coronavirus-battered economies. APEC leaders adopted the Putrajaya Vision 2040, a new 20-year growth vision to replace the Bogor Goals named after the Indonesian town where leaders agreed in 1994 to free and open trade and investment. APEC comprises Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Russia Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and the United States.
• 15th G20 Summit, chaired by Saudi Arabia, was held on November 20-21, 2020. The theme is “Realising the Opportunities of the 21st Century for All”.
• The UN has collaborated with The Vaccine Confidence Project at the University of London to undertake Team Halo, an initiative which aims to counter the misinformation around Covid-19 vaccines. Globally, the initiative is supported by scientists who are involved in the race of coronavirus vaccine development across the world’s top institutes.
• Britain will ban the sale of new gasoline and diesel cars by 2030, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on November 18, 2020. Hybrid vehicles can be sold until 2035. Britain has also pledged reduce its carbon emissions to net zero by 2050.
• The International Day for Tolerance was observed on November 16, 2020. The 2020 UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize for the Promotion of Tolerance and Non-Violence was awarded to Centre Résolution Conflits (CRC) from the Democratic Republic in Congo for the rescue of child soldiers from militia groups, and their rehabilitation and reintegration into their home communities.
• World Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Day (COPD) was observed on November 18, 2019. The day is celebrated on the third Wednesday of November every year, in collaboration with health experts and patients with COPD.
• The World Children’s Day was celebrated November 20, 2020. On November 20, 1959, the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. Also, on November 20, 1989 the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
• World Fisheries Day was celebrated on November 21, 2020. The day is celebrated to highlight the importance of healthy oceans ecosystems and to ensure sustainable stocks of fisheries in the world.
• Syria’s longtime Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem, a career diplomat who became one of the country’s most prominent faces to the outside world during the uprising against President Bashar Assad, died on November 16, 2020 at the age of 79.
• NATO chief cautions against hasty Afghan pull-out - A hasty pull-out of U.S. and allied troops from Afghanistan could see the country become a “platform for international terrorists” again, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg warned on November 16, 2020. His blunt message, given in a statement, was in response to reports that U.S. President Donald Trump is planning to accelerate the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan, where they support a NATO mission, and from Iraq.

4.2 BRICS Media Forum mechanism 

 

 

Key points –

• The fifth presidium meeting of the BRICS Media Forum was held via video link on November 30.
• Launched in 2015, the BRICS Media Forum mechanism was proposed by Xinhua News Agency and jointly initiated with mainstream media from Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa.
• The forum aims to establish an efficient coordination mechanism among BRICS media, advance innovation-driven media development and gather stronger momentum for the development of BRICS countries through exchange and pragmatic cooperation under the mechanism.
• The presidium is the decision-making body of the forum and holds a meeting regularly ahead of the opening of the forum.
• Four forums were held in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019, respectively, which issued the Beijing Declaration of the BRICS Media Summit, the Action Plan of Promoting BRICS Media Cooperation, as well as action plans of the BRICS Media Forum for 2018-2019 and 2019-2020.
• Several documents have been incorporated into the BRICS summit declarations.

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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 Indian Navy Day 2020

 

 

Highlights –

• Indian Navy Day is celebrated every year on December 4 to commemorate the attack on the Karachi harbour during the India-Pakistan war in 1971.
• On this day, the Indian Navy's attack on Karachi harbour contributed to the ultimate victory of the Indian Armed Forces over Pakistan.
• The theme of Navy Day 2020 is "Indian Navy Combat Ready, Credible & Cohesive".
• Following Pakistani attack on Indian air bases on the evening of December 3, 1971, the 25th Missile Vessel Squadron was ordered to dispatch three missile boats - Nirghat, Veer and Nipat at maximum speed towards Karachi.
• Just before midnight of December 4, the Navy's missile boats carried out successful attacks resulting in sinking of Pakistani Destroyer Khaiber, Minesweeper Muhafiz and MV Venus Challenger as well as destruction of Kiamari oil fields.
• Karachi was attacked again on December 7 and 8 from the West. INS Vinash fired four missiles, which damaged MV Gulf Star, MV Harmatton and PN Tanker Dacca.

Other details –

• On Navy Day, various events are organised by the Indian Navy to reach out to citizens through various mass contact programmes.
• This year due to the Covid-19 forced restrictions, the outreach has turned largely virtual.
• Some of the activities include the 360 degree Virtual Reality Tour of INS Vikramaditya.
• While watching the video, viewers will be able to explore the flight deck and other unclassified areas 360 degrees using smart phones or other devices.
• The Indian Navy warships and aircraft are open to visitors, especially school children every year.
• This year a virtual tour has been organized for viewers onboard the naval destroyer INS Mysore. The viewer will be provided an experience of virtual walk around the ship''s prominent places with relevant briefings by the ship''s personnel.

6.2 Weekly Round-up - Defence

 

• The second edition of the India, Thailand and Singapore trilateral Naval exercise SITMEX-20 was organised in the Andaman Sea on November 21-22, 2020.
• The 30th edition of India-Thailand Coordinated Patrol (Indo-Thai CORPAT) between the Indian Navy and the Royal Thai Navy was conducted from November 18 to 20, 2020.
• The navies of India, the US, Australia and Japan participated in the second phase of the Malabar naval exercise in the northern Arabian Sea from November 17 to 20, 2020. The major highlight of the four-day exercise was the participation of the USS Nimitz – the world’s largest warship.
• Indian Navy (IN) is scheduled to host the 27th edition of India - Singapore Bilateral Maritime Exercise SIMBEX-20 from 23 to 25 November 2020 in Andaman Sea. The SIMBEX series of exercises between IN and Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) is being conducted annually since 1994.
• Major Gen (retd) R N Chibber, who had participated in 1962, 1965 and 1971 wars, died in Jammu on November 22, 2020 at the age of 86. He was awarded Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM) for his distinguished service.

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• 7. POLITY (Prelims, GS Paper 2)

7.1 United Nation’s International Day of Persons with Disabilities 

 

Highlights –

• International Day of Persons with Disabilities (December 3) is an international observance promoted by the United Nations since 1992.
• The observance of the Day aims to promote an understanding of disability issues and mobilize support for the dignity, rights and well-being of persons with disabilities.
• It also seeks to increase awareness of gains to be derived from the integration of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life.   
• It was originally called "International Day of Disabled Persons" until 2007. Each year the day focuses on a different issue.

International Year of Disabled Persons 1981 –

• In 1976, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 1981 as the International Year of Disabled Persons. It called for a plan of action at the National, regional and International levels, with an emphasis on equalization of opportunities, rehabilitation and prevention of disabilities.
• The theme of IYDP was "Full Participation and Equality", defined as the right of persons with disabilities to take part fully in the life and development of their societies, enjoy living conditions equal to those of other citizens, and have an equal share in improved conditions resulting from socio-economic development.

United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons 1983–1992 –

• To provide a time frame during which Governments and Organizations could implement the activities recommended in the World Programme of Action, the General Assembly proclaimed 1983–1992 the United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons.

Theme 2020 –

• Building Black Better: toward a disability-inclusive, accessible and sustainable post COVID-19 World. 

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

8.1 World AIDS Day 2020 

Highlights – 

• World AIDS Day is dedicated to spreading awareness about the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), which is spread by a virus called human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
• Each year, December 1 is observed as World AIDS Day in order to raise awareness and to unite people worldwide in the fight against the global health issue of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.
• Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, HIV prevention, testing and treatment are all being disrupted worldwide particularly in countries where heathcare infrastructure is weak.

Key facts –

• Theme of World AIDS Day 2020: "Global solidarity, resilient services".
• World AIDS day is marked by the WHO as a "global public health campaign."
• Globally, 12.6 million people living with HIV still don't have access to treatment.
• An estimated 38,000,000 people are living with HIV in 2019.
• HIV continues to be a major global public health issue, having claimed almost 33 million lives so far.
• By June 2020, 26 million people were accessing antiretroviral therapy, marking a 2.4% increase from an estimate of 25.4 million at the end of 2019.
• 85% of pregnant and breastfeeding women living with HIV also received ART (antiretroviral therapy).
• UN chief Antonio Gueterres – Health is a human right - and universal health coverage must be a top investment priority. To overcome COVID-19 and end AIDS, the world must stand in solidarity and share responsibility.

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

9.1 Not Available Today

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

10.1 Not Available Today

 

10.2 Daily dose of  FIVE Facts -

• Lotay Tshering is the Prime Minister of Bhutan.
• Former head of World Bank, ‘America in the World’, written by Robert B. Zoellick, was released recently.
• The Indian Navy has cancelled Reliance Naval and Engineering Ltd’s Rs 2,500-crore naval offshore patrol vessels (NPOVs) contract.
• Narendra Singh Tomar has been assigned additional charge of Food Processing Industries Ministry.
• ‘El Al’ is the national airline of Israel.

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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