Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 05-01-2021

Useful compilation of Civil Services oriented - Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 05-01-2021

• [message]
• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. Agriculture – Seventh round of talks with farm unions ends in stalemate – The seventh round of talks between Union Ministers and protesting farm unions has failed to resolve the deadlock over three new agricultural reform laws. Both sides stuck to their own positions and accused the other of stubbornness, with the Centre seeking to discuss specific concerns on the laws and the farmers demanding total repeal. The next meeting will be held on January 8. Tens of thousands of farmers have now completed 40 days of agitation on the borders of Delhi, braving bitter cold and pouring rain over the last few days. Farm unions also urged the Centre to condemn the “brutality” of the Haryana police, which used tear gas and chilli grenades on a group of protesters who broke through barricades on the Delhi-Jaipur highway on January 3.
2. Law & Constitution – Repeal law permitting seizure of livestock: SC – The Supreme Court has asked the Centre to “delete” its three-year-old law which allowed seizure and subsequent confiscation of livestock from people who depended on these animals for a livelihood, even before they were found guilty of cruelty towards them. These animals, the law prescribes, would then be lodged in gaushalas as “case property” to await the court’s verdict. In short, a farmer, a livestock owner or a cattle trader loses his animals before being found guilty of the charge of cruelty. A Bench led by CJI Sharad A. Bobde warned the government that it would “stay” the implementation of a 2017 law, which allowed authorities to seize cattle on a mere suspicion that they suffered cruel treatment at the hands of their owners or were being primed for slaughter.
3. World – Trump pressed official to alter poll results – President Trump pressured Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State to “find” enough votes to overturn Joe Biden’s win in the state’s presidential election, repeatedly citing unproven claims of fraud and raising the prospect of a “criminal offence” if officials did not change the vote count. The phone call with Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on December 3 was the latest step in an unprecedented effort by a sitting President to press a state official to reverse the outcome of a free and fair election that he lost. The President, who has refused to accept his loss to Democratic President-elect Biden, repeatedly argued that Mr. Raffensperger could change the certified results.
4. World – Iran steps up uranium enrichment, seizes tanker – Iran has begun enriching uranium up to 20% at an underground facility and seized a South Korean-flagged oil tanker in the crucial Strait of Hormuz, further escalating tensions in West Asia between Tehran and the West. The announcement of enrichment at Fordo came as Iran’s Revolutionary Guards seized MT Hankuk Chemi, alleging the vessel’s “oil pollution” sparked the move. However, Tehran had said a South Korean diplomat was expected to visit in the coming days to negotiate the release of billions of dollars in its assets now frozen in Seoul. The dual incidents come amid heightened tensions between Iran and the U.S. in the waning days of President Donald Trump’s term in office. During Mr. Trump’s tenure, the U.S. leader unilaterally withdrew from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers in 2018 and set off months of tense episodes that increasingly strained relations between the countries.
5. World – Taliban to blame for spate of assassinations: U.S. military – The U.S. military has blamed the Taliban for a spate of assassinations of prominent Afghans, the first time Washington has directly accused the insurgent group of the killings. The charge comes as the Afghan government and Taliban are due to resume peace talks in Qatar, as both sides seek an end to the long-running conflict. The Deputy Governor of Kabul province, five journalists, and a prominent election activist have been among those assassinated since November. Afghan officials blame the Taliban for the killings, but the hardline group has denied the charge, while the rival Islamic State group says its fighters were responsible for some of them. The Taliban said the strikes violated an agreement signed in February that paved the way for the withdrawal of all foreign forces by May 2021.
6. Economy – Vietnam buys Indian rice for first time in decades – Vietnam, the world’s third biggest exporter of rice, has started buying the grain from rival India for the first time in decades after local prices jumped to their highest in nine years amid limited domestic supplies. The purchases underscore tightening supplies in Asia, which could lift rice prices in 2021 and even force traditional buyers of rice from Thailand and Vietnam to switch to India — the world’s biggest exporter of the grain. Indian traders have contracted to export 70,000 tonnes of 100% broken rice for January and February shipments at about $310 per tonne on a free-on-board basis.
7. Economy – Manufacturing sector activity strengthened in December – India’s manufacturing sector activity strengthened in December 2020, with manufacturers stepping up production and input buying amid efforts to rebuild their inventories following business closures earlier in the year. The seasonally adjusted IHS Markit India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’’ Index (PMI) was at 56.4 in December, a tick higher than November’s reading of 56.3. A print above 50 means expansion, while a score below that denotes contraction. Employment fell again, stretching the current sequence of job shedding to nine months.
8. Polity & Governance – Jaishankar to visit Sri Lanka today – In the first high-level visit by a foreign official to Sri Lanka in 2021, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will be in Colombo from January 5 to 7 and hold bilateral talks with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and his counterpart Dinesh Gunawardena. The visit assumes significance for strategic and diplomatic reasons as India tries to counter growing Chinese outreach in the region. It also comes at a time when some in the ruling Rajapaksa administration are seeking the abolition of the provincial council system born out of the IndiA-Lanka Accord of 1987.
9. Education – DoE circular asks teachers to check weight of school bags – The Directorate of Education has issued a circular asking schools to follow the new ‘School Bag Policy, 2020’ released by the NCERT. The weight of the school bags, as per the policy, should be 1.6 to 2.2 kg for students of Classes I and II, 1.7 to 2.5 kg for Classes III, IV and V, 2 to 3 kg for Classes VI and VII, 2.5 to 4 kg for Class VIII, 2.5 to 4.5 kg for Classes IX and X and 3.5 to 5 kg for Classes XI and XII. According to the circular, schoolteachers should inform the students in advance about the books and notebooks to be brought to school on a particular day and frequently check their bags to ensure that they are not carrying unnecessary material.
10. Covid-19 – New virus strain: 8 U.K. returnees from Maharashtra found positive – The samples of eight U.K. returnees from Maharashtra have been found positive for the new strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. CM Uddhav Thackeray has requested the Centre to help quarantine passengers who are entering Maharashtra after landing at airports in other States. Meanwhile, in a heartening development, Maharashtra recorded a robust 10,362 recoveries as its active cases dipped below the 50,000 mark to come down to 48,801. As many as 2,765 new COVID-19 cases were reported, taking the total case tally to 19,47,011. As many as 29 fatalities saw the death toll climb to 49,695. The cumulative recoveries have risen to 18,47,361 while the State’s recovery rate has incrementally gone up to 94.88%.

Important Exam Notifications
S. No	Institution	Exam or Post Name	Vacancies or Seats	Qualification	Last Date to Apply	Link for Details
1	IPIRTI	Project Scientist, Project Asst – 5 Posts	5	Diploma (Engg)/ B.Sc (Relevant Disciplines), ME/ M.Tech or Ph.D	22-01-2021	https://img.freejobalert.com/uploads/2021/01/Notification-IPIRTI-Project-Scientific-Asst-Posts.pdf
2	NPCIL	Scientific Asst, Leading Fireman, Assistant & Other – 11 Posts	11	Diploma, Any Degree	25-01-2021	https://img.freejobalert.com/uploads/2021/01/Notification-NPCIL-Scientific-Asst-Fireman-Other-Posts.pdf
3	Press Council of India	Assistant Section Officer, Junior Translation Officer – 5 Posts	5	–	01-02-2021	http://www.barc.gov.in/careers/vacancy512.pdf
4	BARC	Stipendiary Trainee & Technician/ B – 60 Posts	60	SSC, HSC, Diploma (Engg), B.Sc (Chemistry)	22-01-2021	https://www.rrljorhat.res.in/jobs/Advt-43-2020-HRD.pdf
5	NEIST	Sr Project Associate, Project Associate & Asst, Field Worker – 77 Posts	77	Any Degree, Degree, PG, Ph.D (Relevant Discipline)	08 to 25-01-2021	http://www.incometaxbhopal.in/Document/Recruitment_of_Meritorious_Sportspersons_English.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 News Round-up – Banking and Finance

 

• The Reserve Bank of India on December 23, 2020 has issued a note of caution to the public against the use of “unauthorized” lending apps citing recent media reports on unethical collection practices along with arbitrary interest rates being charged by some of these apps.
• The government has decided to extend the suspension of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) till March 31, 2021, to help businesses cope with the lingering difficulties posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on December 21, 2020. The Minister’s statement settles a major uncertainty facing businesses since the present government order to keep the insolvency code in abeyance was due to expire on December 25.
• Central Bank of India has launched contactless 'RuPay Select' debit card in association with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). The card was launched by Central Bank of India MD and CEO Pallav Mohapatra in the presence of NPCI MD and CEO Dilip Asbe, at a virtual event on the bank's Foundation Day on December 21, 2020.
• State-owned Central Bank of India will exit its housing finance joint venture Cent Bank Home Finance Ltd (CBHFL) by selling its entire stake of more than 64% to Centrum Housing Finance for ₹160 crore.
• Public sector lender Bank of Baroda (BoB) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard under which the bank would offer customised services along with a host of facilities to account holders. The bank has also renewed its existing MoU with the Indian Army to offer specially customised banking services through ‘Baroda Military Salary Package’.
• The RBI on December 24, 2020 said it has cancelled the licence of Subhadra Local Area Bank, Kolhapur, as its affairs were conducted in a “manner detrimental” to the interests of its present and future depositors. The bank had breached the minimum net worth requirement for two quarters in the financial year 2019-20.

• [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 Not Available Today

• [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 Pakistan’s KPK government to purchase ancestral houses of Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor

 

  

Highlights –

• Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has approved the release of Rs 2.35 crore to purchase the ancestral houses of legendary Bollywood actors Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor located in the heart of this city and declared as the national heritages.
• Deputy Commissioner of Peshawar has fixed the price of Dilip Kumar’s four marla (101 square metre) house for Rs 80.56 lakh while that of Raj Kapoor’s six marla house (151.75 square metre) for Rs 1.50 crore.
• Marla, a traditional unit of area used in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, is considered as equal to 272.25 square feet or 25.2929 square metres.
• After procurement, both the houses will be converted into a museum by the KP archaeology department.
• Raj Kapoor’s ancestral home, known as Kapoor Haveli, is situated in the fabled Qissa Khwani Bazar. It was built between 1918 and 1922 by the legendary actor’s grandfather Dewan Basheswarnath Kapoor.
• Raj Kapoor and his uncle Trilok Kapoor were born in the building. It has been declared national heritage by the provincial government.
• Veteran actor Dilip Kumar’s over 100-year-old ancestral house is also located in the same locality. The house is in shambles and was declared as national heritage in 2014 by the then Nawaz Sharif government.
• The owners of the two buildings made several attempts in the past to demolish them for constructing commercial plazas in view of their prime location but all such moves were stopped as the archaeology department wanted to preserve them, keeping in view their historic importance.

6.2 News Round-up – Accidents, Manmade and Natural Disasters

 

• Kilauea volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island roared back to life as lava went shooting into air, boiling away a water lake and sending a massive plume of steam, gas and ash soaring into the atmosphere.

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

7.1 Army to procure 12 patrol boats for surveillance of Pangong lake

 

 

Highlights – 

• The Indian Army has finalised procurement of 12 high-performance patrol boats to enhance its surveillance of large water bodies, including the Pangong Lake in eastern Ladakh where India and China are locked in a bitter border standoff since early May 2020.
• Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) has signed a contract with the Indian Army for supply of the 'high performance specialised patrol crafts' and the same will be fitted with specialised equipment to meet the requirement of the force.
• Nearly 50,000 Indian Army troops are deployed in a high state of combat readiness in various mountainous locations in eastern Ladakh in sub-zero temperatures as multiple rounds of talks between the two sides have not yielded concrete outcome to resolve the standoff. China has also deployed an equal number of troops.
• The eighth and last round of military talks had taken place on November 6, 2020 during which both sides broadly discussed disengagement of troops from specific friction points.
• Indian troops occupied a number of strategic heights in the Mukhpari, Rechin La and Magar hill areas around the southern bank of the Pangong lake after the Chinese military attempted to intimidate them in the area on the intervening night of August 29 and 30.
• The Pangong lake and areas around it are considered very important. India has stepped up surveillance of the lake after the standoff began in early May 2020.
• The face-off began on May 5, 2020 following violent clashes between the two armies in the Pangong lake area. The incident in Pangong Tso was followed by a similar incident in north Sikkim on May 9, 2020.

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

8.1 Creation of new Major General-led Human Rights cell

 

Highlights – 

• As part of the restructuring of Army Headquarters, the Indian Army has appointed a Major General-rank officer as the head of its newly created Human Rights cell.
• Major General Gautam Chauhan has been appointed as the first head of the HR Cell which would be directly working under the Vice Chief of Army Staff office.
• The new cell would be the nodal point for examining any allegations of human rights violations related to the force.
• The cell will also have an Indian Police Service officer for better coordination with the state police forces during the investigation of cases.
• The restructuring would also see the appointment of a Maj Gen-rank officer who would be heading the Vigilance cell to look into cases of corruption in the force.
• The force recently got a third deputy chief as part of this restructuring exercise.

8.2 IIM Sambalpur to get permanent campus after 5 years

 

 

Highlights –

• PM Modi has laid the foundation stone of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) at Sambalpur in Odisha, one of the seven third-generation IIMs his government promised in 2015.
• The foundation stone-laying ceremony comes close on the heels of the controversy surrounding the autonomy of IIMs. The ministry of education is understood to have initiated a discussion to dilute the autonomy of the institutions.
• Apart from IIM Sambalpur, the third generation of IIMs that have come up in 2015 and 2016 also include an institute each in Nagpur, Jammu, Amritsar, Bodh Gaya, Sirmaur and Visakhapatnam.
• Stressing on the need for ‘inclusive development’, Mr.Modi has asked the students to focus on ‘Brand India’ while ensuring that their vision incorporates the less privileged sections of society.
• The PM also urged students of IIM Sambalpur to help the local community of Odisha grow, by utilising the knowledge they gain at the institute. He urged the students to “turn local into global”.
• As per reports, IIM Sambalpur is the first IIM to implement the idea of the flipped classroom where the basic concepts are learnt in digital mode and experiential learning takes place in the class, through live projects from the industry.
• The Institute also outscored all other IIMs in terms of the highest gender diversity with 49 per cent girl students in MBA (2019-21) batch and 43 per cent in MBA (2020-22) batch.

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

9.1 Draft 5th National Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy

 

  

Key points –

• The draft of the 5th National Science Technology and Innovation Policy has been finalized and is now available for public consultation.
• The policy aims to bring about profound changes through short, medium and long-term mission mode projects by building a nurtured ecosystem that promotes research and innovation on the part of both individuals and organizations.
• It aims to foster, develop, and nurture a robust system for evidence and stakeholder-driven STI planning, information, evaluation, and policy research in India.
• The objective of the policy is to identify and address strengths and weaknesses of the Indian STI ecosystem to catalyse socio-economic development of the country and also make the Indian STI ecosystem globally competitive.
• The new policy, STIP, revolves around the core principles of being decentralized, evidence-informed, bottom-up, experts-driven, and inclusive.
• As India and the world reorient in the present context of the COVID-19 crisis, a new Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy (STIP) was initiated at this crucial juncture during mid-2020.

Important details –

• For India to march ahead on a sustainable development pathway to include economic development, social inclusion and environmental sustainability for achieving an “Atmanirbhar Bharat'', a greater emphasis may be needed on promoting traditional knowledge systems, developing indigenous technologies and encouraging grassroots innovations.
• The emergence of disruptive and impactful technologies poses new challenges and simultaneously greater opportunities. The COVID-19 pandemic provided a compelling opportunity for R&D institutions, academia and industry to work in unison for sharing of purpose, synergy, collaboration and cooperation.

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

10.1 Not Available Today

 

10.2 Daily dose of  FIVE Facts -

• The Union Cabinet in Dec 2020 approved a proposal for setting up public WiFi hotspots across the country via Public Data Offices under the ‘PM-WANI’ scheme.
• World Health Organisation (WHO) applauds India for ‘Fitness Ka Dose Aadha Ghanta Roz’ campaign.
• Mr. Uday Shankar was elected as the new President of FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry) in Dec 2020.
• Daniil Medvedev won the Singles title at the ATP Tour Finals tennis in London in Nov 2020.
• Four astronauts reached orbit on a SpaceX rocket after lifting off from Florida, in the company’s first regular NASA mission to the International Space Station.

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!

---