Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 10-12-2020

Useful compilation of Civil Services oriented - Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 10-12-2020

• [message]
• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. Farmer’s Protests – Farmers Reject Govt Proposal, to Escalate Stir- Farmer groups have rejected the ten-point written proposal document sent to them by the government and announced an escalation of the protests saying they would agree on nothing less than repeal of the three contentious farm laws and a legal guarantee on MSP, while also emphasising that they had never agreed to a mid-path solution. The farmers’ groups called for a national boycott of Reliance products, including Jio Sim cards and phones, as well as petrol pumps and malls owned by Reliance and Adani groups and agitations outside their premises. A country-wide ‘Delhi Chalo’ call was given to farmers of six neighbouring states to march to Delhi on December 14. Farmers said all roads leading to Delhi would be blocked one-by-one, including the remaining open routes like the Delhi-Jaipur Expressway and Delhi-Agra Expressway by Dec 12.  
2. Polity and Governance – Cabinet nod for public WiFi networks - The Union Cabinet approved a proposal for setting up public WiFi hotspots across the country via public data offices or PDOs, which could even be a kirana shop or a paan shop. The move, aimed at helping accelerate the uptake of broadband Internet services, will not require the PDOs to get a license or pay a fee. The public WiFi Access Network Interface, which will be called ‘PM-WANI’, was first recommended by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in 2017. This will involve multiple players, including PDOs, Public Data Office Aggregators (PDOA), app providers, and a central registry. PDOs — comparable to a PCO or a cybercafe — will establish, maintain, and operate WiFi access points and deliver broadband services to subscribers, while the PDOAs will be aggregators of PDOs and perform functions such as authorisation and accounting. The app provider will develop the app to register users and discover PM-WANI compliant WiFi hotspots nearby. The details of all three will be maintained by the registry.
3. Environment and Ecology - Emissions Hit New Record, World On Track for 3C Warming Despite Pledges, Pandemic: UN Report  - Greenhouse gas emissions reached a new high last year, putting the world on track for an average temperature rise of 3 degrees Celsius, a U.N. report showed. The report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) – the latest to suggest the world is hurtling toward extreme climate change – follows a year of sobering weather extremes, including rapid ice loss in the Arctic as well as record heat waves and wildfires in Siberia and the U.S. West. Researchers at Europe's Copernicus Climate Change Service said last month was the hottest-ever November on record. The annual "emissions gap" report measures the gap between anticipated emissions and those consistent with limiting the global temperature rise this century as agreed in the 2015 Paris Agreement. Under the global climate pact, nations have committed to a long-term goal of limiting the average temperature rise to below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit it even further to 1.5C.
4. Social - Only 53% health workers wash hands right: Survey - After all the Covid-19 messaging and drills of preventive guidelines, only about half the healthcare workers are washing hands for the mandated 20 seconds. A month-long survey in August by a team of AIIMS doctors found Covid-19 safety practices are yet to sink in among health workers. Of the 956 surveyed, 47% didn’t follow proper hand hygiene and about 32% didn’t sanitise their hands after contact with patients and surroundings. The survey covered both government and private hospitals, and was conducted in both rural and urban areas. They were also picked from various settings — in-patient, out-patient, laboratory services — from big hospitals to small dispensaries.
5. Social – Women Empowerment: Women Hold 17% of Board Positions in India Inc Now - India Inc boardrooms are gradually getting more inclusive. Between 2012 and 2020, India has seen an 8.6% increase in the number of women on boards, with women holding 17% of board positions in 2020, according to the Egon Zehnder Global Board Diversity Tracker 2020. Globally, nearly 89% of all large company boards in the 2020 report include at least one woman. In India, that number is higher, with 96% of companies in the survey having at least one woman on their boards. This is largely because India requires public companies to have at least one woman director on board. India fared better than Asia in diversity of both executive and nonexecutive chair roles, with 5% of executive chair roles and 10% of non-executive chair roles respectively filled by women in India. Those numbers stand at 2.6% and 5%, respectively, in Asia as a whole.
6. USA – U.S. Supreme Court rejects bid to overturn Pennsylvania result - The U.S. SC dismissed a case filed by allies of President Trump seeking to overturn the results of the vote in Pennsylvania, which Democratic candidate Joe Biden won by some 81,000 votes. The case, filed by U.S. Congressman and Trump ally Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania and Republican lawmakers from the State, argued that a 2019 State law, which expanded vote-by-mail, was unconstitutional because it was not enacted with a constitutional amendment. The SC’s one sentence rejection of injunctive relief for the plaintiffs did not note any dissents. Mr. Trump, who has made numerous unsubstantiated claims on widespread electoral fraud, has been banking on the conservative-heavy Supreme Court, hoping that the three judges he put on the bench, including Amy Coney Barrett who was appointed days before the election, would come through for him.
7. World – UK investigates possible allergic reactions to Covid-19 shot - UK regulators say people who have a 'significant history' of allergic reactions shouldn't receive the new Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine while they investigate two adverse reactions that occurred on the first day of the country's mass vaccination program. Professor Stephen Powis, national medical director for the National Health Service in England, said health authorities were acting on a recommendation from the Medical and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, the nation's medicines regulator.
8. Polity and Governance – SC asked States/UTs to ensure CCTV cameras at every Police Station - The Supreme Court (SC) has asked the States and Union Territories Governments to ensure that CCTV (closed-circuit television) cameras are installed in each and every Police Station. Before to this the SC has also directed to take action regarding the same in 2015 in D. K. Basu case to W. Bengal government and in 2018 to Ministry of Home Affairs. According to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, between 2001 and 2018, only 26 policemen were convicted of custodial violence despite 1,727 such deaths being recorded in India. Only 4.3% of the 70 deaths in 2018 were attributed to injuries during custody due to physical assault by police. Apart from custodial deaths, more than 2,000 human rights violation cases were also recorded against the police between 2000 and 2018. And only 344 policemen were convicted in those cases.
9. Defence - Three China-owned firms among the top ten arms companies in world - Three Chinese stateowned entities now figure in the top ten arms companies in the world, with a fourth also making it to the top 25. It reinforces the ongoing massive modernisation of the People’s Liberation Army as well as the rapidly-growing Chinese arms exports to countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Algeria. The list of the 25 largest arms companies in the world, as per annual sales, was released by leading conflict thinktank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). The Aviation Industry Corporation of China, China Electronics Technology Group Corporation, China North Industries Group Corporation and China South Industries Group Corporation rank 6th , 8th , 9th and 24th in the list.
10. Economy - Sensex races past 46k on back of foreign funds - Led by foreign funds, across-the-board buying in blue chips pushed the sensex to above the 46,000 mark for the first time in its history. The index closed at 46,104 points, its highest ever. The session’s gain came on the back of strong buying in HDFC Bank, RIL, Infosys, Kotak Bank and Asian Paints, and the Rs 182.7 lakh crore market cap made investors richer by Rs 1.25 lakh crore. On the NSE, the nifty hit a new high at 13,500 points as it closed at 13,529, up 136 points. On Dalal Street, the day’s gains were also helped by a Rs 3,564-crore net buying by foreign funds, BSE data showed. The rally also lifted investors’ wealth to an all-time high with BSE’s market capitalization now at Rs 182.7 lakh crore. However, the rally to a new peak for the index came despite a Rs 2,493-crore net outflow. The sensex’s journey from 45K to 46K took just three days, the second fastest 1,000-point rally for the index in its history.

Important Exam Notifications
S. No.	Institution	Exam or Post Name	Vacancies or Seats	Qualification	Last Date to Apply	Link for Details
1	Cotton Corporation of India Limited	Management Trainee, Junior Commercial Executive & Junior Asst.	95	Degree, PG, CA/ CMA	07-01-2021	https://www.freejobalert.com/cotton-corporation-of-india-recruitment/92806/
2	AAI	ITI, Graduate/ Diploma Apprentice	180	10th/ Voca. Cer., Dip/ Deg (Engg Disc.)	31-12-2020	https://www.freejobalert.com/aai/23620/#Apprentice
3	NIRD&PR	State Programme Coordinator, Young Fellow	510	12th Class, PG Degree, Diploma	29-12-2020	https://img.freejobalert.com/uploads/2020/12/Notification-NIRDPR-Coordinator-Fellow-Resource-Person-Posts.pdf
4	Jalma Inst. for Leprosy & Other Mycob Diseases	Research Assistant/ Project Asst, Project Technician I, II & III	11	12th with DMLT/ PMW, Grad, PG	24-12-2020	https://www.jalma-icmr.org.in/pdf/Vacancies%20for%20various%20post-compressed.pdf
5	MANAGE	Business Manager, Manager, Content Developer & Consultant	7	M.Sc, MVSc/ M.F.Sc, M Tech/ MBA/ CA/ PGDM	25-12-2020	http://cia.manage.gov.in/Notification.pdf

• [message]
• SECTION 2 - DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS

• [message]
• 1. CONSTITUTION AND LAW (Prelims, GS Paper 2, Essay paper)

1.1 Not Available Today

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

2.1 Weekly Round-up

• As per the data of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Foreign direct investment (FDI) into India grew by 15% to US $ 30 bn during the first half of the current fiscal. Inflow of FDI during April-Sept 2020-21 stood at US $ 26 bn. Sectors which attracted maximum foreign inflows during April-September 2020-21 included computer software and hardware (US$ 17.55 billion), services (US$ 2.25 billion), trading (US$ 949 billion), chemicals (US$ 437 million) and automobile (US$ 417 million). Singapore emerged as the largest source of FDI in India during the period with US$ 8.3 billion investments. It was followed by the US (US$ 7.12 billion), Cayman Islands (US$ 2.1 billion), Mauritius (US$ 2 billion), the Netherlands (US$ 1.5 billion), UK (US$ 1.35 billion), France (US$ 1.13 billion) and Japan (US$ 653 million).
• At Rs 9.5 lakh crore, India’s fiscal deficit came in at 119% of the target of Rs 7.96 lakh crore seven months into the ongoing fiscal in October, data released by the Controller General of Accounts on November 27, 2020 showed.
• Contracting for the eighth consecutive month, the output of eight core infrastructure sectors dropped by 2.5% in October. The production of eight core sectors had contracted 5.5% in October 2019, data released by the Commerce and Industry Ministry showed on November 27, 2020.
• PM Modi inaugurated the virtual 3rd Global Renewable Energy Investment Meeting and Expo, RE-Invest 2020. Modi said that the renewable energy capacity in India is currently 136 Giga Watts, which is about 36% of country’s total capacity.
• India slashed import tax on crude palm oil to 27.5% from 37.5%. India is the world’s biggest importer of palm oil. It imports around 9 million tonnes of palm oil annually, mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia.
• The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and Invest India has launched a Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Investor Map for India, laying out 18 Investment Opportunity Areas (IOAs) in six SDG enabling sectors that include education, healthcare, agriculture and allied activities, financial services, renewable energy & alternatives and sustainable environment.

• [message]
• 3. ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY (Prelims, GS Paper 3, Essay paper)

3.1 Not Available Today

• [message]
• 4. FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Prelims, GS Paper 2, Essay paper)

4.1 Global Arms Market in 2019

 

 

Report by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) –

• While the US military equipment makers continued to dominate the global market in 2019, China pipped established players like France, UK and Italy to claim the second spot in the field.
• Chinese firms accounted for around 16 per cent of the global arms sales in the year, which stood at $361 billion (8.5 per cent higher than 2018).
• Twelve US companies appear in the ‘top 25’ tally, accounting for 61 per cent of the combined worldwide sales in 2019. From China, four companies made it to the top-25 list. Three of them are among the top 10: Aviation Industry Corporation of China (6th rank), China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (8th) and China North Industries Group Corporation (9th).
• The combined revenue of these four Chinese companies, which also includes China South Industries Group Corporation (ranked 24th), grew by 4.8 per cent between 2018 and 2019.
• The US had the first five slots occupied—Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and General Dynamics.

4.2 Weekly Round-up – Foreign Affairs - I

• G20 leaders announced that India will host the summit of the high-profile grouping in 2023 — a year later than what was decided earlier. In the G20 Riyadh Summit Leaders Declaration issued at the conclusion of the conference of the world’s top 20 economies, the leaders said that while the global economy experienced a sharp contraction in 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, global economic activity has partially picked up.
• PM Modi had a telephonic talk with UK’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson during which the two leaders reviewed the cooperation between India and the UK in the area of coronavirus vaccine development and manufacturing.
• Defence Minister and his Vietnamese counterpart General Ngo Xuan Lich in Nov 2020 discussed collaboration in defence industry capability building, training and cooperation in United Nations peacekeeping operations during bilateral talks via video-conferencing.
• External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar held high-level talks with the top leadership of Seychelles in capital Victoria during his two-day visit to the key Indian Ocean nation. He met newly-elected Indian-origin President Wavel Ramkalawan in Nov 2020.
• India and Finland in Nov 2020 signed an MoU for developing cooperation between two countries in the field of environment protection and biodiversity conservation. The MoU was signed virtually by Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar and his Finnish counterpart Krista Mikkonen.
• Secretary General of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Vladimir Norov has praised the “Self-Reliant India” initiative by PM Modi saying that it deserves high attention.
• India has announced the launch of Phase-IV of the High Impact Community Development Projects in Afghanistan. External Affairs Minister said this during the 2020 Afghanistan Conference organized in Geneva through video- conference on Nov 23-24, 2020. The conference was co-hosted by UN, the Government of Afghanistan, and the Government of Finland.
• India’s aviation safety regulator DGCA in Nov 2020 extended the suspension of scheduled international commercial passenger flights to Dec 31. The restrictions, however, will not apply on international all-cargo operations and flights specifically approved by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
• Eminent Indian-American physician Ajay Lodha passed away on November 21, 2020 due to complications from COVID-19 in US at the age of 58. He was former president of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI). In 2008, Lodha was honoured with the Nargis Dutt Memorial Foundation Physician of the Year Award. 

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

5.1 Not Available Today

• [message]
• 6. MISCELLANEOUS (Prelims, Various GS Papers)

6.1 53rd Submarine Day  

 

 

Highlights –

• The Western Naval Command of the Indian Navy observed the 53rd Submarine Day on December 8, 2020.
• Vice Admiral Ajit Kumar, Flag Officer Commanding-in- Chief of the Western Naval Command, laid a wreath at the memorial of INS Vajrabahu at Naval Dockyard.
• Submarine Day is observed to remember and honour submariners who made supreme sacrifice in their service.
• The Vice Admiral was by accompanied by Rear Admiral V Srinivas, the senior-most submariner presently posted in Mumbai.
• The 53rd Submarine Day commemorates the maiden unfurling of the naval ensign on the erstwhile INS Kalvari at Riga, Latvia.

INS Kalvari –

• INS Kalvari was a diesel-electric submarine of the Foxtrot Class from the erstwhile USSR.
• It was a 91.3-metre-long submarine, which carried a crew of 75. It had a surface speed of 16 knots while the submerged speed was 15 knots.
• It had a range of 32,000 km at a speed of 8 knots when on surface and a submerged range of 610 km at a speed of 10 knots. It could carry 22 torpedoes and 42 mines in lieu of torpedoes.
• Commander KS Subramanian, the first Commanding Officer of INS Kalvari, brought the submarine from St Petersberg in Russia to Vishakhapatnam in India.
• After INS Kalvari, three more submarines — Karanj, Khanderi and Kursura — were commissioned in the Indian Navy along with submarine support vehicle Amba.
• A submarine rescue ship, INS Nistar, was also commissioned in 1972.
• The Indian Navy is inducting several submarines in Kalvari Class, named after the very first submarine inducted into service.
• INS Kalvari, a diesel-electric submarine of Scorpene-class, was inducted into service in 2017 after having being built at the Mazagon dock in Mumbai. It has been designed by French company DCNS.
• INS Khanderi is the other submarine of Kalvari class currently in service.
• The other submarines slated to join service under this class are Vela, Karanj, Vaghir and Vaghsheer.

6.2 Weekly Round-up – Defence

• India test fired the new land-attack version of the surface-to-surface supersonic cruise missile BrahMos. The range of the missile has been extended to 400 km from the original 290 km but its speed has been maintained at 2.8 Mach or almost three times the speed of sound.
• Sri Lanka hosted the fourth national security advisor trilateral meeting on maritime security cooperation with India and Maldives in Colombo on November 27-28, 2020. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval took part in the dialogue along with Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Major Gen (Retd.) Kamal Gunaratne and Maldivian Defence Minister Mariya Didi.
• National Security Advisor Ajit Doval in Nov 2020 called on Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in Colombo. Sri Lanka is hosting the fourth national security advisor trilateral meeting on maritime security cooperation with India and Maldives on November 27-28.
• The Indian Navy has inducted two MQ-9B Sea Guardian unarmed drones procured from the U.S. on lease for one year. The recently released Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020 has introduced an option for leasing military platforms.

• [message]
• 7. POLITY (Prelims, GS Paper 2)

7.1 Not Available Today

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

8.1 TIME’s 2020 ‘Person of The Year’ reader poll

Highlights –

• Essential workers -- the nurses, doctors, delivery people, grocery-store employees and others who risked their lives on the frontlines during the COVID-19 pandemic this year to provide critical services to the people -- have won TIME's 2020 Person of the Year Reader Poll.
• These heroes won with 6.5 per cent of the more than 8 million votes cast in this year's poll, that had asked readers to select the person or group of people who had the greatest influence on 2020.
• Essential workers beat out some 80 other candidates, including famed figures like (US) President Donald Trump, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Pope Francis, for the readers' top pick.
• This year's reader poll results also highlighted several other figures and groups who stood out during an unprecedented and gruelling year.
• Director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci, who "emerged as a trusted figure amid COVID-19 misinformation", came in at second spot with 5 per cent of the votes.
• Coming in at third place were firefighters with 4.3 per cent of the votes.
• The Black Lives Matter activists who "led and inspired global demonstrations against systemic racism and police brutality" after the killing of several African Americans, including George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, followed in next in the reader poll with 4 per cent of the votes.
• US President-elect Joe Biden, who beat incumbent Trump in a historic presidential election that saw record-breaking turnout, garnered 3.8 per cent of the votes, finishing at fifth place.
• TIME editors will soon announce the "Person Of The Year".

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

9.1 NavIC as a component of the World-Wide Radio Navigation System

 

  

Highlights –

 

• The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has recognised India’s NavIC as a component of the World-Wide Radio Navigation System (WWRNS).
• This recognition was awarded in the 102nd meeting of Maritime Safety Committee of IMO (MSC-102) held in November 2020.
• NavIC had been represented at the IMO by the Directorate General of Shipping (DGS), the Ministry of Ports, the Shipping and Waterways with technical support from ISRO.
• In April 2020, NavIC L5 had been incorporated in the Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services (RTCM) standard 10403.3 for differential Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) applications.
• These developments will enable the utilisation of NavIC in the fields of maritime navigation, surveying, geodesy.

Important details –

• The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), also called NavIC, is an independent regional navigation satellite system developed by India.
• It is designed to provide accurate position information service to users in India as well as the region extending up to 1500 km from its boundary, which is its primary service area.
• According to ISRO, the IRNSS will provide two types of services, namely, Standard Positioning Service (SPS) which is provided to all users and Restricted Service (RS), which is an encrypted service provided only to the authorised users.
• The IRNSS System is expected to provide a position accuracy of better than 20 metres in the primary service area.
• The system that offers services such as terrestrial and marine navigation, disaster management, vehicle tracking and fleet management, navigation aide for hikers and travellers, visual and voice navigation for drivers, was named ‘NavIC’ (Navigation with Indian Constellation) by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

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

10.1 Not Available Today

 

10.2 Daily dose of  FIVE Facts -

• PM Modi in Nov 2020 released a special stamp and Rs 100 coin to commemorate the foundation day of the University of Lucknow.
• Full-form of the Govt. scheme PM-KUSUM  is Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan.
• The 15th East Asia Summit (EAS), held in Nov 2020, was chaired by the Prime Minister of Vietnam.
• Retail inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), in Sept 2020 was 7.34%.
• The Blue Flag certification is accorded to beaches around the world by the Denmark-based Foundation for Environment Education.

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!

• [message]
• SECTION 3 - MCQs (Multiple Choice Questions)

Solve the online quiz given, right now. Check scores, and relative performance!

---