Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 28-12-2020

Useful compilation of Civil Services oriented - Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 28-12-2020

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. Covid-19 – Daily virus cases below 19,000 after 6 months – India’s daily new COVID-19 case load dropped below 19,000 after six months on Sunday (December 27). 10 States/Union Territories account for 75.27% of new deaths, with Maharashtra registering the most casualties (60). West Bengal and Delhi follow with 33 and 23 daily deaths, respectively. India’s total active case load has fallen to 2.78 lakh (2,78,690) currently. This is the lowest after 170 days. The total active cases were 2,76,682 on July 10. Currently, 76.52% of the new cases are concentrated in 10 States and UTs, with Kerala reporting the highest daily new cases at 3,527. It is followed by Maharashtra with 2,854 new cases. A total of 21,430 people recovered and were discharged in the last 24 hours.
2. Agriculture – Farmers protest during airing of PM Modi’s Mann ki Baat – A 55-year-old advocate from Punjab died in yet another case of alleged suicide at the farmers’ agitation site in Tikri and demonstrations were held at several places across the country, with protesters clanging utensils and oil tins during the airing of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Mann Ki Baat programme on December 27. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, however, reiterated at a government function in Himachal Pradesh that no one could take away farmers’ land through contract farming. Farm leaders, meanwhile, said there had been no official response to their proposal for talks on December 29. Farmer unions, however, claimed Amarjit left behind a suicide note in support of the agitation.
3. World – Afghan peace talks set to resume in Doha: official – The next round of negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government will be held in Qatar from January 2021, despite President Ashraf Ghani’s recent calls for them to be moved home. Peace talks began on September 12 at a luxury hotel in Doha, but negotiations are currently on a break until January 5. Earlier in December, negotiators from both sides decided to take a break after months of often frustrating meetings, which were bogged down by disputes on the basic framework of discussions and religious interpretations. Meanwhile, Mr. Ghani and some other top Afghan officials immediately called for the next round of meetings to be held in Afghanistan.
4. Economy – India to become fifth-largest economy in 2025: think tank – India, which appears to have been pushed back to being the world’s sixth-biggest economy in 2020, will again overtake the U.K. to become the fifth-largest in 2025 and race to the third spot by 2030. India had overtaken the U.K. in 2019 to become the fifth-largest economy. India has been knocked off course somewhat through the impact of the pandemic. As a result, after overtaking the U.K. in 2019, the U.K. overtakes India again in this year’s forecasts and stays ahead till 2024 before India takes over again. The U.K. appears to have overtaken India again during 2020 as a result of the weakness of the rupee. The Indian economy is likely to expand by 9% in 2021 and by 7% in 2022. Growth will naturally slow as India becomes more economically developed, with annual GDP growth expected to sink to 5.8% in 2035.
5. World – Millions in U.S. lose benefits as Trump refuses to sign aid Bill – Millions of Americans saw their jobless benefits expire on December 26 after U.S. President Donald Trump refused to sign into law a $2.3 trillion pandemic aid and spending package, protesting that it did not do enough to help everyday people. Mr. Trump stunned Republicans and Democrats alike when he said this week he was unhappy with the massive Bill, which provides $892 billion in badly needed coronavirus relief, including extending special unemployment benefits expiring on December 26, and $1.4 trillion for normal government spending. Without Mr. Trump’s signature, about 14 million people could lose those extra benefits. A partial government shutdown will begin on December 29 unless Congress can agree a stop-gap government funding Bill. After months of wrangling, Republicans and Democrats agreed to the package recently, with the support of the White House.
6. People & Personalities – U.K.-Soviet double agent George Blake dies at 98 – George Blake, who died in Russia on December 26 at the age of 98, was the last in a line of British spies whose secret work for the Soviet Union humiliated the intelligence establishment when it was discovered at the height of the Cold War. Britain says he exposed the identities of hundreds of Western agents across Eastern Europe in the 1950s, some of whom were executed as a result of his treason. His case was among the most notorious of the Cold War, alongside those of a separate ring of British double agents known as the Cambridge Five. Unmasked as a Soviet spy in 1961, Blake was sentenced to 42 years in London's Wormwood Scrubs prison. He escaped in 1966 with the help of other inmates and two peace activists.
7. Covid-19 – EU nations roll out mass vaccination – Europe launched a massive vaccination drive on December 27 with pensioners and medics lining up to take the first shots to see off the COVID-19 pandemic that has crippled economies and claimed more than 1.7 million lives worldwide. In Italy, 29-year-old nurse Claudia Alivernini was one of three medical staff to receive the first shots of the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech. The region of 450 million people has secured contracts with a range of suppliers for more than two billion vaccine doses and has set a goal for all adults to be inoculated during 2021.
8. World – Sri Lankan police seize 20,000 kg of turmeric – Sri Lanka police on December 27 seized 20,000 kg of turmeric smuggled by sea, reportedly from India, amid a shortage persisting since Sri Lanka banned imports to support local farmers in the pandemic year. Four Sri Lankan nationals were arrested. The pandemic, which hit Sri Lanka in March, has severely impacted its economy, prompting the government to restrict imports and pledge greater support to local farmers. Sri Lanka consumes an estimated 7,000 tonnes of turmeric annually and nearly 5,000 tonnes were imported from India until COVID-19 struck the country.
9. Polity & Governance – Don’t fly in Chinese nationals, Centre informally tells airlines – In a strong retaliatory push, India has informally asked airlines not to fly Chinese nationals into the country. This comes on the heels of China’s not-so-subtle move to stop Indians from flying into their country, something that has only tightened since November. While flights between India and China are currently suspended, Chinese nationals have been flying in via a third country with which India has a travel bubble. In addition, Chinese nationals living in air bubble countries have also been flying to India for work and business. Over the past weekend, airlines — both Indian and foreign — have received word not to fly Chinese nationals to India. At the moment tourist visas to India remain suspended but foreigners are allowed to travel here on work and some other categories of non-tourist visas.
10. Study/Research – Mum-Dubai, Del-Dubai now among busiest int’l routes – Mumbai-Dubai and Delhi-Dubai have now emerged among the busiest international routes in the pandemic world. According to the UK-based air consultancy firm OAG, Delhi-Dubai is the fifth and Mumbai-Dubai 10th busiest air route this month in terms of seat capacity deployment by airlines operating on various routes. The busiest international route is Dubai-London Heathrow (1.7 lakh seats) followed by Orlando-San Juan (1.6 lakh seats) and Cairo-Jeddah (1.4 lakh). Delhi-Dubai has 1.1 lakh and Mumbai-Dubai over a lakh seats this month (December 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 News Round-up – Legal Affairs

• Rakesh Vaishnav and Others vs UOI and Others/ Batch Plea’s – Farmers protests can continue without impediment and breach of peace - Farmers protests can continue without impediment and breach of peace by protesters and police supreme court said as it refrained from passing any substantive directions in the PIL seeking removal of farmers protests the court also reiterated its suggestion to constitute a committee to facilitate talks between the protesting farmers and the Central Government in order to resolve the disputes over farm laws. Justices A. S. Bopanna and V. Ramasubramnium
• Aditya Kashyap vs Rachita Taneja and Abhuday Mishra vs Kunal Kamra – SC issues contempt notice to comic artist Rachita Taneja and Comedian Kunal Kamra - Supreme Court issued contempt notices to comic artist Rachita Taneja and comedian Kunal Kamra. Both petitions against Kamra and Taneja were filed separately and by separate individuals but both taken up on the same day by a three-judge bench led by Justice Ashok Bhushan. Justices Ashok Bhushan, R. Subhash Reddy and M. R. Shah
• State of Uttar Pradesh vs Nuzhat Perween – SC refuses to interfere with Allahabad HC’s order dropping NSA charges against Dr. Kafeel Khan - Top court refused to interfere with Allahabad High Court order dropping NSA charges against Dr. Kaffir Khan. It seems to be a good order by High Court we see no reason to interfere with the High Court order CJI S. A. Bobde remarked while refusing to interfere with the order. He however clarified that the observations in the High Court order shall not affect the prosecution on the criminal cases. Khan was arrested on charges under the National Securities Act from Mumbai over a speech he gave at Aligarh Muslim University against the CAA last year. Justices A. S. Bopanna and V. Ramasubramnium

• Vinita Sarin vs UOI – SC agrees to examine whether probing constitutionality of declaration of 1975 emergency is feasible after 45 years - Supreme Court has agreed to examine whether probing constitutionality of declaration of 1975 emergency is feasible after 45 years. This issue came up after a 94 year old woman moved supreme court seeking that the proclamation of the emergency of 1975 be declared unconstitutional and for a compensation to the tune of rupees 25 crores from the authorities who have participated in the same. Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Dinesh Maheshwari and Hrishikesh Roy
• Kerala Union of Working Journalists vs UOI – Siddique Kappan not a Journaist, he has links with SIMI and PFI: UP Government - Siddique Kappan is not a terrorist he has links with banned organizations Students Islamic Movement of India and PFI, UP Government submitted before the Supreme Court. The government has further claimed that Kappan and all other co-accused were heading towards hatress in a pre-planned manner to execute unlawful activities and to disrupt the public peace of the state by provoking the class and cast conflicts within the state. Papan was then arrested by the UP police on October 5 for alleged criminal conspiracy. Justices A. S. Bopanna and V. Ramasubramnium
• S. Vanitha vs Deputy Commissioner, Bengaluru Urban District - Summary eviction procedure under senior citizens act cannot be invoked to defeat right of a residence of women in a shared household as per Domestic Violence (DV) Act, Supreme Court has held. The top court stated that the maintenance and welfare of parents and senior citizens act has no overriding effect over the right of residence of a woman in a shared household within the meaning of the protection of women from domestic violence act. A woman who was the daughter-in-law of a senior citizen couple had contended before the top court that she could not have been evicted from her shared household in view of the protection provided under Section 17 of the DV act. Justices D. Y. Chandrachud, Indu Malhotra and Indira Banerjee.

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

2.1 News Round-up – Banking and Finance

 

• The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in Dec 2020 said it has added features in RuPay cards that will allow offline transactions in areas with limited internet connectivity. NPCI has also offered a reloadable wallet facility called RuPay NCMC (National Common Mobility Card) card to boost seamless retail transactions.
• American online payment gateway giant PayPal has been imposed a Rs 96 lakh penalty by the FIU (Financial Intelligence Unit) for alleged contravention of the anti-money laundering law and accused of “concealing” suspect financial transactions and abetting “disintegration” of India’s financial system.
• The CBI has booked 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. The CBI has named the company, its chairman-cum-managing director Cherukuri Sridhar and others in the FIR. 

2.2 100% FDI in DTH sector

 

 

Highlights –

• The Union Cabinet has approved revised guidelines for Direct-to-Home (DTH) broadcasting services, allowing 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) as well as increasing the licence period to 20 years.
• Under the revised guidelines the licenses will be issued for a period of 20 years, compared to 10 years at the moment, and will be renewed for a 10-year period.
• The license fee has been revised from 10 per cent of gross revenue (GR) to 8 per cent of adjusted gross revenue (AGR), which will be calculated by deduction of GST from GR.
• Further, broadcasting firms will have to pay the license fee on quarterly basis, rather than the annual basis as of now.
• The government has also allowed DTH operators to share infrastructure.
• The Cabinet also approved the merger of four of its film media units — Films Division, Directorate of Film Festivals, National Film Archives of India, and Children’s Film Society, India — with the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) Ltd.

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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 to pay $1.2 billion to Cairn after arbitration loss

 

 

  

Highlights –

• India has been ordered to return over $1.2 billion to Cairn Energy Plc after PM Modi's administration lost arbitration proceedings in a tax dispute, its second defeat over levies.
• An international arbitration tribunal has ruled that the tax claim was not a valid demand and asked the government to repay the funds withheld along with interest to Cairn. India had seized dividend, tax refund and shares to partly recover the dues.
• The judges have unanimously ruled that India's retrospective tax demand breached the U.K.-India bilateral investment protection treaty.
• Cairn Energy's victory will be the second loss for India in an international arbitration after Vodafone Group Plc won a years-long tax dispute with the government in September 2020 over a controversial $3 billion tax demand. Unlike in the Vodafone case, the government will have to repay Cairn.
• India in 2012 retrospectively amended the tax code, giving itself the power to go after M&A deals all the way back to 1962 if the underlying asset were in India.
• The U.K. oil explorer received the tax claim from Indian authorities in March 2015 over a restructuring carried out in 2006 while preparing for an initial public offering of Cairn India. The tax authorities had seized 10% of Cairn India's shares, then valued at about $1 billion.
• In 2011, Cairn Energy sold most of its holding in the Indian unit to billionaire Anil Agarwal's Vedanta Resources Plc for $8.7 billion. Cairn Energy had transferred ownership of its Rajasthan oil field, the country's biggest onshore discovery in two decades, to Cairn India.
• The Edinburgh-based company filed a dispute under the U.K.-India Investment Treaty and sought international arbitration that started later in 2015 for the losses over expropriation of its investments in India from the minority holding.

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

5.1 Swachhata Abhiyan app gets launched

 

 

Key point –   

• A mobile application to identify and geotag insanitary latrines and manual scavengers has been launched by Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Thaawarchand Gehlot.
• Highlights –
• This is likely to help in rehabilitating all manual scavengers and replace insanitary latrines with sanitary ones.
• Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, mandates survey of insanitary latrines, their demolition and construction of sanitary ones in their place. The government has been implementing Swachh Bharat Mission for the same purpose.
• Under the Swachh Bharat Mission, more than nine crore sanitary latrines have been constructed.
• The country has been declared as open-defecation-free.
• More than 66,000 manual scavengers have been identified since 2013-14 through surveys by states and also through a national survey in 194 districts.
• Over 57,000 manual scavengers who have submitted bank account details have been paid onetime assistance of Rs 40,000 each.
• The manual scavengers and their dependents are also provided skill training with monthly stipend of Rs 3,000 and subsidy up to Rs 3,25,000 on loans taken by them for self-employment projects.
• Despite construction of a large number of sanitary latrines under the Swachh Bharat Mission, there have been reports from social organisations about existence of insanitary latrines and manual scavengers in some isolated parts of the country.

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• 6. MISCELLANEOUS (Prelims, Various GS Papers)

6.1 Cabinet gives nod to merger of four film media units with NFDC

 

 

Highlights –

• The Union Cabinet has approved the merger of four government film media units with the NFDC with an aim of converging activities and resources and better coordination to ensure synergy and efficiency in achieving the mandate of the bodies.
• As per the reports, the Films Division, the Directorate of Film Festivals, the National Film Archives of India and the Children's Film Society, India will be merged with the National Film Development Corporation Limited by expanding the memorandum of articles of association of the NFDC, which will then carry out all the activities performed by the four organisations.
• The Cabinet has also approved the appointment of a "transaction advisor" and a "legal advisor" to advise on the transfer of assets and employees and oversee all aspects of the operationalisation of the merger.
• As an umbrella organisation, the NFDC, after the merger of the film media units, will be uniquely placed with regard to promotion, production and preservation of filmic content -- all under one management.
• The vision of the new entity will be to ensure a balanced and focussed development of Indian cinema in all its genres.

Important details –

• The Films Division, a subordinate office of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, was established in 1948, primarily to produce documentaries and news magazines for the publicity of government programmes and cinematic record of Indian history.
• The Children's Film Society, an autonomous organisation, was founded in 1955 under the Societies Act with the specific objective of providing children and young people value-based entertainment through the medium of films.
• The National Film Archives of India, a subordinate office of the information and broadcasting ministry, was established as a media unit in 1964 with the primary objective of acquiring and preserving Indian cinematic heritage.
• The Directorate of Film Festivals, as an attached office of the information and broadcasting ministry, was set up in 1973 to promote Indian films and cultural exchange.
• The NFDC is a Central Public Sector Undertaking (CPSU), incorporated in 1975 with the primary object of planning and promoting an organised, efficient and integrated development of the Indian film industry. 
  

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• 7. POLITY (Prelims, GS Paper 2)

7.1 Not Available Today

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

8.1 Digital skilling of ITI students

 

Highlights –

• The Directorate General of Training (DGT) has joined hands with Microsoft and NASSCOM Foundation to provide a digital content for ITI students and also future-ready employability skilling program for upskilling and reskilling.
• Nearly 1,20,000 students in around 3000 ITIs across India can be benefited by this digitized e-learning module via the Bharatskills portal.

Important details –

• DGT has already collaborated with many digital industry front liners like IBM India Pvt. Ltd., SAP India, Cisco Systems India Pvt. Ltd., Accenture Solutions and Quest Alliance, Adobe, SSC-NASSCOM etc., to enable the students to become industry ready.
• DGT under the aegis of Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) is responsible for implementing long term institutional training to the nation’s youth through its extensive network of about 15,000 training institutes (ITIs) and 33 National Skill Training Institutes (NSTIs).
• DGT plays a crucial role in the execution of vocational training schemes and in making ‘Skill India’ dream become a reality.
• DGT launched an online learning platform called the Bharatskills in Oct 2019, a Central Repository for skills providing easy access for the trainees and trainers of the ITI ecosystem, to access updated curriculums and course content of all courses under the Craftsmen Training Scheme (CTS), Question Banks, mock/practice papers, learning videos, etc., hence enabling anytime, anywhere learning outside the classrooms.
• The platform also presents a unique access to a centralized, scalable and a thriving support ecosystem through its industrial partners for the students and teachers who can now learn the newer IR 4.0 skills to meet the demands of the industry.
• During the current COVID-19 pandemic scenario, the usage of Bharatskills learning platform has increased multifold from around 90,000 users in March 2020 to more than 16.55 Lakh users having accessed the portal as on date.

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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 -

• The government in May 2020 increased its market borrowing estimate to Rs 12 lakh crore for 2020-21.
• Famous Singer Little Richard passed away at the age of 87 in May 2020.
• S&P Global Ratings on April 17, 2020 lowered India’s economic growth forecast to 1.8% for 2020-21.
• TrueNat is a device used in testing of Tuberculosis.
• Swachhata-MoHUA mobile app has been upgraded by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) to enable reporting of coronavirus cases.s

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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