Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 21-12-2020

Useful compilation of Civil Services oriented - Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 21-12-2020

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. World – Nepal’s PM Oli springs a surprise on detractors, dissolves Parliament – Nepal plunged into yet another political crisis Sunday (December 20) after PM K.P. Sharma Oli dissolved the 275-member House of Representatives — the lower house of the country’s Parliament. The move comes in the wake of an ongoing power tussle in the ruling Nepal Communist Party, and Oli is believed to have taken this step as a last resort after losing majority support. According to Article 85 (1) and Article 76 (7) of the Constitution of Nepal, the lower house, called the ‘Pratinidhi Sabha’, has a term of five years unless dissolved earlier. However, there is no provision in the Constitution that allows the Prime Minister, who is leading the two-thirds majority government, to dissolve it unilaterally. As a result, several opposition parties have taken to the streets to protest against PM Oli’s decision, the first dissolution in the democratic history of the country.
2. Covid-19 – Weekly Covid cases in India drop 17%, the steepest decline so far – Covid-19 infections and deaths continued to fall in the country 14 weeks after the pandemic peaked, with cases this week registering a 17.3% decline, making it the steepest weekly drop in percentage terms. India recorded 171,520 cases during December 14-20, the lowest since the June 29-July 5 week, and nearly 36,000 down from the previous week. This was the sixth straight week of falling cases and 13th overall in the last 14 weeks. The weekly toll dropped to its lowest in over six months, with the virus claiming 2,444 lives in the past seven days. The last time India saw fewer deaths in a week was in June 8-14 (2,318). India is the only country among the 10 worst hit — apart from Argentina — that has not seen a major surge in cases over the past two months.
3. World – Over 340 students in Nigeria back with parents after ordeal – Nigeria’s freed schoolboys have reunited with their joyful parents after being held captive for nearly a week by gunmen allied with jihadist rebels in the country’s northwest. Relieved parents hugged their sons tightly on December 19 in Kankara, where more than 340 boys were abducted from the Government Science Secondary school on the night of December 11. Many of the schoolboys expressed worry about returning to school, saying their captors threatened them with death if they went back to classes. Nigeria’s Boko Haram jihadist rebels claimed responsibility for the abductions, saying they attacked the school because they believe Western education is un-Islamic. Another abduction of more than 80 students happened on Saturday (December 19) night in an area nearby, but the pupils were quickly rescued by security forces after a fierce gun battle, police announced on December 20.
4. Covid-19 – New virus strain out of control: U.K. – British Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said that the government has imposed a strict Christmas lockdown in London and southeast England because a new strain of the coronavirus was “out of control”. The World Health Organization is calling on its members in Europe to step up measures against COVID-19. Outside Britain, nine cases of the new strain have been reported in Denmark, as well as one case in the Netherlands and another in Australia. Mr. Hancock warned that the strict measures that affect almost a third of England’s population could stay in place until the virus vaccine is fully rolled out. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that millions must cancel Christmas plans and stay home because the new strain was spreading far more quickly.
5. Business – PayPal incurs Rs 96 lakh penalty for allegedly violating India's anti-money laundering laws – American online payment gateway giant PayPal has been imposed Rs 96 lakh penalty by the FIU for alleged contravention of the anti-money laundering law and accused of "concealing" suspect financial transactions and abetting "disintegration" of India's financial system. PayPal, which began India operations in November 2017, said it was fully committed to follow due processes and is "carefully reviewing the matter". The company has also been charged with "defeating and frustrating" the tenets of public interest and the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), which aims to keep the country's financial system safe from economic crimes, terrorist financing and black money transactions.
6. Polity & Governance – Govt writes to farmers, seeks new date for talks – The Centre sent a new letter late Sunday (December 20) night to 40 farm leaders asking them to suggest a date for another round of talks and the issues they would like to discuss. The move came hours after the unions protesting on Delhi’s borders against three central agri-marketing laws observed ‘Shahidi Divas’ to pay homage those who died during the agitation, drew up plans for a 24-hour relay hunger strike on December 21, and threatened to block NH9 if their counterparts were not allowed to move towards the Ghazipur border in 24 hours. The letter addressed to the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha was also marked to 31 unions in Punjab, one in Haryana and 7 from other states. It outlined the details of amendments to the laws to which the Centre had agreed.
7. World – US to vote on $900 bn Covid relief – The US Congress was poised to vote on December 20 on a $900 billion coronavirus aid package after senators struck a late-night compromise to clear one of the final hurdles, a dispute over Federal Reserve pandemic lending authorities. Congressional leaders plan to attach the coronavirus aid package, which includes $600 direct payments to individuals and a $300 per week unemployment compensation supplement, to a $1.4 trillion spending bill funding government programmes through September 2021. They face a government funding deadline of midnight on December 20.
8. World – Biden introduces his climate team, says no time to waste – Just as the United States has needed a unified, national response to COVID-19, it needs one for dealing with climate change, President-elect Joe Biden said on December 19 as he rolled out key members of his environmental team. The approach is a shift from Donald Trump’s presidency, which has been marked by efforts to boost oil and gas production while rolling back government efforts intended to safeguard the environment. The incoming Biden team will try to undo or block many of the current administration’s initiatives. There also will be an emphasis on looking out for the low-income, working class and minority communities hit hardest by fossil fuel pollution and climate change.
9. Study/Report – ‘Prison population reduced by 10.42% between April and June’ – A report released by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) has said the population in Indian prisons reduced by 10.42% from April to June due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The report urged the State governments and prison authorities to continue the measures to decongest prisons. The report, titled ‘Responding to the Pandemic: Prisons and Overcrowding’, said that after high-powered committees were formed on orders of the Supreme Court to reduce overcrowding, the occupancy in prisons of 22 States and Union Territories reduced from 107.8% on December 31, 2019 to 103.1% on April 1, 2020 and then to 93.3% on June 30.
10. Business – iPhone maker Wistron agrees to lapses in payment of wages, sacks India VP – Taiwanese conglomerate Wistron has sacked its vice president Vincent Lee who oversaw the business in India as it agreed to lapses in payment to workers at the Narasapura facility near Bengaluru, which was vandalised on December 12. The company is enhancing its processes and restructuring the teams to ensure these issues do not happen again. The company has around 1,000 people in various managerial roles in the country. While assuring that all employees will be fully compensated immediately the company has established an employee assistance program for workers at the facility.

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	Security Officer, Fire Officer	32	BE/ B.Tech	08-01-2021	https://www.bankofbaroda.in/writereaddata/Images/pdf/news-adv-V1-18-12-2020.pdf
2	NIT, Durgapur	Engineer, Dy Librarian, Asst Registrar, Pharmacist	11	10+2, Diploma, BE/ B.Tech, PG	08-01-2021	https://admin.nitdgp.ac.in/files/information/careers/2020/Non_Teaching_Recruitment_online_Draft-11.pdf
3	CSIR-CIMAP	Scientist, Senior Scientist & Sr Technical Officer	15	B.E./ B.Tech, ME/ M.Tech/ M.Sc, Ph.D	21-01-2021	https://www.cimap.res.in/english/images/vacancies/2020/Advt_2_2020.pdff
4	CECRI	Trade & Technician Apprentice	53	ITI, Diploma (Engg)	31-12-2020	https://www.cecri.res.in/Portals/0/Careers/APP-06-2020_AdvtCopy.pdf
5	BECIL	Environmental Scientist, Project Engineer, Consultant, Secretarial Asst	5	Any Degree, B.Tech, LLB, M.Tech, PhD	31-12-2020	https://www.becil.com/uploads/vacancy/0ece4b881581edbaf6a1853ccbf486d9.pdf

 

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• SECTION 2 - DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS

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

1.1 Not Available Today

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

2.1 CBI books Hyderabad-based firm for alleged bank fraud of Rs. 7,926 crore

 

 

Highlights –

• The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has charged Hyderabad-based Transstroy (India) Ltd and its directors for alleged bank fraud of over ₹ 7,926 crore in a consortium led by Canara Bank, in the biggest banking scam in the country so far surpassing the amount misappropriated by diamantaire Nirav Modi.
• The CBI has named the company, its chairman-cum-managing director Cherukuri Sridhar and additional directors Rayapati Sambasiva Rao and Akkineni Satish in the FIR.
• It was alleged that the private firm based in Hyderabad and its directors had availed credit facilities on multiple banking arrangements.
• The CBI has alleged that loans were misappropriated by the directors causing a loss of ₹ 7,926.01 crore to the consortium members.
• According to the CBI, Nirav Modi had allegedly siphoned off ₹ 6,000 crore while his uncle Mehul Choksi had swindled ₹ 7,080.86 crore.

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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-Australia Economic Strategy Report

 

 

Key points –

• Union Minister of Railways, Commerce and industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public distribution Piyush Goyal has launched the India-Australia Economic Strategy report.
• Australia & India have been working together even more closely on the strategic front, be it Malabar exercises, QUAD groupings, the partnership on several strategic areas.

Mr.Goyal’s views –

• The government is continuously trying to make our FDI policies more facilitative & congenial & supportive of foreign investment.
• Newer areas like space, nuclear energy & defence production will open up good opportunities for our mutual engagement.
• Emerging sectors of defence, sports, textiles, textile designing, digital gaming, animation, water management, commercial ship-building, space collaboration & digital engagement in education, hold great promise in government’s efforts to balance this trade relationship.
• Areas like tourism will generate a lot of jobs in India under the new framework, and will make tourism projects in India more viable.
• With 3B objectives: Bigger trade basket - Better trade basket – Balanced trade relationship, India can see huge & exponential growth in our trade relationship.
• In the backdrop of the pandemic, the focus of the industry, which had been to bring back economic activity, is yielding very good results. The economy is showing a V-shaped recovery.
• Diversification of supply chains is critical for managing the risks associated with the supply of inputs, including disciplining non-transparent & opaque economies.
• Efforts like the Australia Strategy Report will help us to align our trade & economic policies to implement this strategy report.

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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 News Round-up – Accidents, Natural and Manmade Disasters

 

 

• Margaret Keenan, a 90-year-old woman in Britain, on December 8, 2020 became the first person in the Western world to receive an approved vaccine against COVID-19.

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• 7. POLITY (Prelims, GS Paper 2)

7.1 Three systems developed by Defence body handed over to Armed forces

 

 

 

Highlights –

• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has handed over three systems developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation to chiefs of the three armed forces.
• Mr Singh handed over the Indian maritime situational awareness system (IMSAS) to Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh at an event in New Delhi.
• The IMSAS is a software system that provides global maritime situational picture, marine planning tools and analytical capabilities to the Indian Navy.
• The minister handed over the Astra Mk-1 missile system to Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria. This missile is the first indigenously developed beyond visual range (BVR) missile that can be launched from Sukhoi-30 and other fighter aircraft.
• Mr Singh handed over the Border Surveillance System (BOSS), which is an all-weather electronic surveillance system, to Army Chief General MM Naravane at the event in New Delhi.
• All three systems--IMSAS, Astra Mk-1 and BOSS-- have been designed and developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) only.

7.2    News Round-up

• According to the Ministry of Ayush, the upcoming new campus of National Institute of Naturopathy (NIN), Pune will be called “Nisarg Gram”. Located at a distance of 15 Km from NIN’s present premises at Bapu Bhavan, the new Institution will be future-ready, with many novelties and innovations incorporated in the project per se and the curriculum of the Naturopathy courses.
• The Ministry of Railways has ended the age-old tradition of allowing senior Railways officers to nominate a person to be appointed as peons to work in their residences or camp offices. These peons had the designation of Telephone Attendant cum Dak Khalasi (TADK).
• Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri in Nov 2020 released a Book titled Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Government’s Special Relationship with Sikhs on the occasion of Gurupurab.
• National Pollution Control Day was observed in Dec 2020. India observes National Pollution Prevention Day on December 2 in the memory of people who lost their lives in Bhopal gas disaster. The industrial accident occurred in 1984 when the gas Methyl Isocyanate leaked on the night of December 2–3 and killed thousands.
• Navy Day was celebrated on December 4, 2020. The Day is celebrated every year to commemorate the Indian Navy’s attack on Karachi harbour on December 4, 1971 during the Indo-Pak War.
• S. Ramakrishnan, former Director of Indian Space Research Organisation’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), died on December 1, 2020 at the age of 71.
• The Centre has decided to name the second campus of the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB) in Thiruvananthapuram after Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ideologue M.S. Golwalkar. Union Minister for Science and Technology Harsh Vardhan on December 4, 2020 named the new facility ‘Shri Guruji Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar National Centre for Complex Disease in Cancer and Viral Infection’.
• The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India on December 2, 2020 signed a $50 million policy-based loan to improve financial management procedures and operational efficiencies aimed at achieving more fiscal savings, promote informed decision making, and improve service delivery in the West Bengal.
• PM Modi inaugurated six-lane widening project of the Varanasi - Prayagraj section of NH-19 on November 30, 2020 in Varanasi.
• Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij, who had participated in the Phase 3 trial of Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine, Covaxin, on December 5, 2020 said he had tested positive for the virus. Bharat Biotech said the clinical trials of Covaxin are based on a two-dose schedule, given 28 days apart. The company said Covaxin has been designed to be efficacious when subjects receive both doses.
• Professor Sangeeta Shrivastava has been appointed as the Vice Chancellor of the University of Allahabad, becoming the first-ever woman to hold the position in the institution.
• Veteran actor Ravi Patwardhan, best known for starring in 1980s Hindi films such as Tezaab and Ankush, died on December 6, 2020 at the age of 84 in Thane.
• A BJP Rajya Sabha member from Gujarat Abhay Bhardwaj on December 1, 2020 passed away at the age of 66 during his post coronavirus (COVID-19) treatment in Chennai.
• The ruling TRS MLA in Telangana Nomula Narasimhaiah died in Hyderabad on December 1, 2020 at the age of 64. He was MLA from Nagarjuna Sagar in Nalgonda district.
• Former Punjab Chief Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal patron Parkash Singh Badal has returned his Padma Vibhushan (2015) award in solidarity with the farmers protesting against the three farm laws.

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

8.1 International Migrants Day 2020

 

Highlights –

• Every year, December 18 is celebrated as International Migrants Day.
• It was on December 18, 1990 that the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution for the protection of the rights of migrant workers and their families. Ever since it has become an annual event.
• The day recognises the importance of protecting the rights and dignity of migrants around the world.
• Throughout human history, migration has been a courageous expression of the individual’s will to overcome adversity and to live a better life. Today, globalization, together with advances in communications and transportation, has greatly increased the number of people, who have the desire and the capacity to move to other places.
• Migration draws increasing attention in the world nowadays. Mixed with elements of unforeseeability, emergency, and complexity, the challenges and difficulties of international migration require enhanced cooperation and collective action among countries and regions.

Theme –

• In 2020, the theme of the International Organization for Migration is “Reimagining Human Mobility”.
• The theme assumes special significance owing to the impact of COVID-19 on the lives of migrants around the world.
• The pandemic has highlighted mobility as a major challenge in people’s lives and the migrants have been severely affected by travel restrictions.
• In India, this was clearly evident as thousands of migrants walked back from the big cities towards their villages following the announcement of the lockdown.

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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 India falls 17 spots on Human Freedom Index

 

Highlights –

• The Human Freedom Index 2020, a worldwide ranking of civil, economic and personal freedom, has placed India at the 111th spot out of 162 countries. India ranked 94 on the index in 2019.
• India is ahead of China and Bangladesh, which ranked 129 and 139 on the 2020 index respectively.
• New Zealand, Switzerland and Hong Kong bagged the first three spots.
• India scored 6.30 out of 10 in personal freedom and 6.56 in economic freedom. The country’s overall human freedom score was 6.43.
• The United States and United Kingdom are tied at the 17th spot on the index. War-torn Syria ranked the last on the list.
• The index takes into account 76 indicators of personal, civil, and economic freedoms to rank 162 countries from 2008 to 2018.
• It was published by American think tank Cato Institute and Fraser Institute in Canada. The institutes noted that the world has seen a notable decline in personal freedom since 2008.

Important details –

• India has dropped on several global freedom indexes.
• Democracy watchdog Freedom House’s report in October showed that internet freedom in India declined for a third straight year in 2019-20. The watchdog said India had the most number of internet shutdowns in the world, even excluding the ones in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
• The Global Economic Freedom Index 2020 released in September showed India drop 26 spots from 79 to 105.
• The World Press Freedom Index, which was released in April 2020, saw India slip two places. India ranked 142 on the index comprising of 180 countries and territories.

 

10.2 Daily dose of  FIVE Facts -

• The Karnataka cabinet in Nov 2020 gave in principle approval for the creation of Vijayanagara as the state’s 31st district which is carved out of  Ballari.
• Senapathy (Kris) Gopalakrishnan is a former Chairman of Infosys.
• S. Jaishankar is the Indian counterpart of Ernesto Araujo of Brazil.
• Alexander Zverev is men’s tennis player from Germany.
• India’s Global Himalayan Expedition won the 2020 UN Global Climate Action Award for its efforts to combat climate change.

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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