Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 12-01-2021

Useful compilation of Civil Services oriented - Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 12-01-2021

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. World – Democrats introduce article of impeachment against Trump – Democrats in the House of Republicans introduced an article of impeachment against U.S. President Donald Trump — the “incitement of insurrection” for his role in the attack on the Capitol. The House could vote on this charge on January 6. House Republicans blocked a measure on asking Vice-President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th amendment, a statute by which the President can be removed on grounds of incapacitation. The measure will go to the full House floor for a vote. On January 10, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi articulated a plan to go ahead with the impeachment of Mr. Trump if Vice-President Mike Pence did not invoke the 25th Amendment. There are ten days left in Mr. Trump’s term and if impeached, he will the first President to be impeached twice. If convicted in the Senate, Mr. Trump could be barred from running for office again in the future.
2. Covid-19 – WHO experts to visit China to trace origins of COVID-19 – A team of experts from the WHO will arrive in China on January 6 to study the origins of COVID-19. China’s Foreign Ministry said during the visit, “The international experts will hold exchanges with Chinese scientists and medical experts over scientific cooperation in origin-tracing.” Investigations into the origins of the coronavirus have already become politicised. The WHO has been criticised, particularly by the United States, for its response to the pandemic and was described by President Donald Trump as being “China-centric” and “a puppet of China”.
3. Law & Constitution – HC nod to terminate 28-week pregnancy – The Delhi HC has granted permission to a woman to terminate her 28-week pregnancy after AIIMS medical board said her foetus can be aborted as it suffered from anencephaly, a condition where the skull bone is not formed. On January 7, the court had asked AIIMS to constitute a medical board to examine the woman and give a report on the feasibility of terminating her pregnancy. The woman stated that an ultrasonography at the gestational age of 27 weeks 5 days found that the foetus suffered from anencephaly, making it incompatible with life. In India, the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act stipulates a ceiling of 20 weeks for termination of pregnancy, beyond which abortion of a foetus is statutorily impermissible.
4. Agriculture – Farmers reject court’s proposal – Farmers groups have rejected the SC’s suggestion to appoint a committee to resolve the ongoing crisis over three farm reform laws. They say the Centre’s attitude in court makes it clear that the government will not agree to discuss farmers’ demand for repeal of the three laws in such a committee. They expressed “respect” and “gratitude” for the Court’s “understanding of the problem and comforting words” but regretted that the unions were unable to accede to its suggestions, as millions of farmers across the country were demanding a full repeal of the laws. They expressed disappointment that the Court would pronounce its order without further consultations.
5. Covid-19 – 96 infected so far with mutant U.K. strain, says Health – The total number of persons found infected with the mutant U.K. strain of COVID-19 is 96. India has also reported fewer than 170 daily COVID-19 deaths in the past 24 hours, after 229 days. The country reported 161 case fatalities in the past 24 hours, with six States and Union Territories accounting for 69.57% of them. Maharashtra saw the most casualties of 34, followed by Kerala with 23 and West Bengal with 19. Data released by the Ministry said the total active case load had fallen to 2.25 lakh (2,22,526) currently, and that the present active case load consisted of 2.13% of the total positive cases. 16,959 people had recovered and were discharged in the last 24 hours. The total recovered cases stood at 10,092,909.
6. Polity & Governance – Panel clears Parliament project – The Union government’s proposal to construct a new Parliament building has been approved by the Heritage Conservation Committee (HCC), whose clearance was mandated by the Supreme Court in its January 5 judgment allowing the project. The court ordered that the permission of the HCC, which is headed by an Additional Secretary of the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry and includes government officials primarily, should be obtained before any work starts on the ground. The panel looked at the preservation of heritage as per the Unified Building Bylaws, 2016. Permission was not sought earlier as the Ministry, whose Central Public Works Department is carrying out the project, felt there was no heritage involved. The new building was proposed to be built adjacent to the existing Parliament, which was built in the 1920s. Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Puri said the timeline for the completion was 2022, the 75th year of Independence.
7. Agriculture – SC ‘intends’ to stay farm laws – The Supreme Court on January 11 said it intended to stay the implementation of the controversial agricultural laws while proposing to form an independent committee chaired by a former Chief Justice of India to “amicably resolve” the stand-off between the farmers and the Union government. A three-judge Bench, led by Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde, underlined its “disappointment” at the Centre’s handling of the protest, including the string of failed talks, States “up in rebellion”, suicides among protesters and the sight of aged farmers, women and children suffering in the biting cold amid the pandemic.
8. Covid-19 – Centre orders 11 mn doses of Covishield – PM Modi has announced that the State governments would not have to pay for vaccinating the priority group of three crore healthcare and frontline workers, stating that the Centre would bear the cost. The announcement came as the Central government placed a purchase order with the Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) for 11 million doses of Oxford COVID-19 vaccine, Covishield, at a cost of ₹210 per dose (including GST). The Health Ministry is also slated to sign a purchase order with Bharat Biotech for its vaccine, Covaxin. “Meetings for this are under way.”
9. People & Personalities – Author Ved Mehta passes away in the U.S. – Celebrated Indian-American author Ved Mehta, who overcame blindness and became widely known as the 20th century writer most responsible for introducing American readers to India, died in the U.S. on January 9. Mehta was born in pre-Partition Lahore into a well-off Punjabi family in 1934. He lost his eyesight at the age of three from meningitis. He is best known for his 12-volume memoir, which focused on the troubled modern history of India and his early struggles with blindness. Mehta brought out 24 books that included volumes of reportage on India, among them Walking the Indian Streets (1960), Portrait of India (1970) and Mahatma Gandhi and His Apostles (1977), as well as explorations of philosophy, theology and linguistics.
10. Economy – Next round of commercial coal mining auction ‘soon’ – Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi has said the next tranche of commercial mines auction will be unveiled this month and stressed that further rounds would continue thereafter. The Coal Minister said the single-window clearance portal is in the spirit of minimum government and maximum governance. It would be a milestone for ease of doing business in the country's coal sector. Presently, about 19 major approval or clearances are required before starting a coal mine in the country.

Important Exam Notifications
S. No	Institution	Exam or Post Name	Vacancies or Seats	Qualification	Last Date to Apply	Link for Details
1	Army Recruiting Office, Cuttack	Soldier	--	8th, 10th Class, 10+2	24-02-2021	http://joinindianarmy.nic.in/writereaddata/Portal/BRAVO_NotificationPDF/Rally_Notification_Cuttack.pdf
2	MIDHANI	Junior Technician, Operator, Junior Artisan & Junior Staff Nurse – 9 Posts	9	SSC, ITI, Diploma (Engg), B.Sc Nursing/ 10+2 with GNM/ Any Degree	23-01-2021	https://midhani-india.in/WordPress-content/uploads/2018/11/Recruitment-of-Non-Executives21-1.pdf
3	Indian Army	Junior Commissioned Officer	194	Any Degree	09-02-2021	https://joinindianarmy.nic.in/
4	Army Recruiting Office, Rangapahar	Soldier	--	8th, 10th Class, Intermediate	22-02-2021	https://img.freejobalert.com/uploads/2021/01/Notification-Indian-Army-JCO-Posts.pdf
5	Army Recruiting Office, Rangapahar	Soldier	--	10+2/ Intermediate	22-02-2021	http://www.joinindianarmy.nic.in/writereaddata/Portal/BRAVO_NotificationPDF/Dimapur_Rally_for_Manipur-Clerk_SKT_and_NA.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 Budge 2021 

2.2 Interest rate on PPF, NSC, other small savings schemes unchanged for Q4

• The government on December 31, 2020 kept the interest rates on small savings schemes unchanged for the January-March quarter. Interest rates for small savings schemes are notified by the Finance Ministry on a quarterly basis.
• Public Provident Fund (PPF) and National Savings Certificate (NSC) will continue to carry an annual interest rate of 7.1% and 6.8%, respectively.
• The interest rate for the five-year Senior Citizens Savings Scheme has been retained at 7.4%. The interest on the senior citizens’ scheme is paid quarterly.
• Interest rate on savings deposits has been retained at 4% annually.
• The girl child savings scheme Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana will offer 7.6% rate.
• The annual interest rate on Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) has been retained at 6.9%.
• Term deposits of 1-5 years will fetch an interest rate in the range of 5.5-6.7%, to be paid quarterly, while the interest rate on five-year recurring deposit is pegged at 5.8%.  

News Round-up - Banking and Finance

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on January 1, 2020 announced the launch of the next round of household surveys to capture inflation expectations and consumer confidence, which provide useful inputs for its monetary policy. Announcing the launch of the January 2021 round of the Inflation Expectations Survey of Households (IESH), the RBI said it aims to capture subjective assessments on price movements and inflation from about 6,000 households based on their individual consumption baskets across 18 cities.
• Maintaining the inflation target at 4% is appropriate for India, according to a working paper titled “Measuring Trend Inflation in India”. The RBI placed the paper on its website under the Reserve Bank of India Working Paper Series. The 4% target for inflation — with an upper tolerance limit of 6% and a lower limit of 2% — was set by the Centre in consultation with the RBI in 2016 and its validity expires on March 31, 2021.
• The Reserve Bank of India on January 1, 2020 said it has constructed a composite Digital Payments Index (DPI) with March 2018 as the base period to capture the extent of digitisation of payments across the country. “The DPI for March 2019 and March 2020 work out to 153.47 and 207.84, respectively, indicating (an) appreciable growth,” it said in a statement. The RBI-DPI comprises five broad parameters, including Payment Enablers, Payment Infrastructure – Demand-side factors and Supply-side factors, Payment Performance and Consumer Centricity.
• International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) on January 1, 2020 said it has become an associate member of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) which works closely with the G20 and the Financial Stability Board in setting up the standards for strengthening the securities markets. This membership would enable IFSCA to learn from the experiences and best practices of the regulators of other established financial centres. The first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in the country has been set up at the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT). To regulate such institutions, the government established IFSCA in 2019 with its head office in Gandhinagar.

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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 Pompeo annuls restrictions on diplomatic contacts with Taiwan  

 

 

Highlights – 

• Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has announced that the State Department is voiding longstanding restrictions on how U.S. diplomats and others have contact with their counterparts in Taiwan, another move that is expected to upset China as the Trump administration winds to an end.
• The Trump administration has sought to strengthen bilateral relations with Taiwan. It has announced that U.N Ambassador Kelly Craft would go to Taiwan, a move that sparked sharp criticism from Beijing and a warning that the U.S. would pay a heavy price.
• In August, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar became the first Cabinet member to visit Taiwan since 2014.
• Pompeo said that the State Department has created complex restrictions when it comes to contacts between the two parties. He said those actions were taken to appease the Communist regime in Beijing.
• The Chinese government maintains that mainland China and Taiwan are parts of “one China.”
• China has been stepping up its threats to bring the self-governing island under its control by military force with frequent war games and aerial patrols. It has been using its diplomatic clout to stop Taiwan from joining any organizations that require statehood for membership.
• Pompeo said the U.S. maintains relationships with unofficial partners around the world, and Taiwan is no exception.

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

5.1 Payment of Rs. 1,364 cr to over 20 lakh undeserving beneficiaries under PM-KISAN

 

 

Key points –

• A reply to a Right to Information (RTI) query by the Union agriculture ministry has revealed that the government has paid Rs 1,364 crore to 20.48 lakh undeserving beneficiaries under its ambitious PM-KISAN scheme.
• Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sammann Nidhi (PM-KISAN) was launched by the Centre in 2019 and under the scheme, income support of Rs 6,000 per year in three equal instalments is paid to small and marginal farmer families having combined landholding or ownership of up to 2 hectares.
• The Union agriculture ministry identified two categories of undeserving beneficiaries who received PM-KISAN payouts as “ineligible farmers” and “income tax payee farmers”.
• As per reports, proceedings have been initiated to recover these funds transferred to undeserving persons.
• As per the data, a major chunk of these ineligible beneficiaries belongs to five states – Punjab, Assam, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh.

Note –

• Several categories of farmers are excluded from the scheme like institutional landholders; farmer families in which one or more members is among beneficiaries – former and present holders of constitutional posts; former and present ministers, MPs, MLAs, MLCs, mayors and chairmen of district panchayat; serving and retired government employees; people receiving over Rs 10,000 as monthly pension; income tax payees and professionals such as doctors, engineers, chartered accountants and architects.

5.2  Bhraman Sarathi Schem

 

Key point –

• Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal has flagged off 25 buses exclusively for women and senior citizens to travel within the city of Guwahati.

CM’s views –

• The free transport service would immensely help women and senior citizens.
• The new bus service of the Assam State Transport Corporation (ASTC) would give a new dimension to the state governments welfare measures in the new year.
• He urged all commuters to take care of these buses which will ply in five routes.
• The CM lauded Transport Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary and all ASTC employees for their dedicated service during the pandemic period. ASTC buses transported essential items within the Northeastern region and to other parts of the country, besides bringing back people stranded outside the state during the lockdown.

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• 6. MISCELLANEOUS (Prelims, Various GS Papers)

6.1 Storm Filomena 

Highlights – 

• Spain is in a race against time to clear roads covered by heavy snow, and get Covid vaccines and food supplies to areas affected by Storm Filomena.
• Up to 50cm (20 inches) of snow fell on the capital Madrid, one of the worst hit areas, between January 8 and January 9. At least four people died and thousands of travellers were left stranded.
• Overnight, temperatures plunged to -8C (18F) in parts of Spain, amid warnings by meteorologists that the snow was turning to perilous ice. The unusual cold wave on the Iberian peninsula is expected to last until January 14.
• Soldiers have been deployed to clear some of the 700 major roads. Some 3,500 tonnes of salt were later brought on lorries to the capital.
• Spaniards in large parts of the country have been warned to take care in the coming days as temperatures could fall to -12C (10F) in some areas until January 14.

6.2 News Round-up – Accidents and Natural Disasters

• Indian Naval Ship "INS Kiltan” delivered 15 tons of flood relief material containing 3,000 flood relief kits for the flood affected people in Cambodia as part of Delhi’s Indo-Pacific outreach. INS Kiltan arrived at Sihanoukville Port on December 29 under Indian Navy’s Mission SAGAR-III, which is being undertaken in accordance with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision for Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR).
• The first consignment of relief materials from India for the cyclone-affected people reached Fiji on January 2, 2021. Fiji was hit by a Category-5 Tropical Cyclone Yasa in December 2020 which caused extensive damage and destruction of critical infrastructure.
• Tens of thousands were left without electricity and planes were delayed or forced to re-route on December 27, 2020 as storm Bella caused torrential rain and heavy winds in much of France.
• The first ever ‘International Day of Epidemic Preparedness’ was observed by the UN on December 27, 2020 to highlight the importance of the prevention of, preparedness for and partnerships against epidemics such as COVID-19.

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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 World Hindi Day 2021 

 

 

Key points –

• World Hindi Day is celebrated every year on January 10. Vishwa Hindi Divas commemorates the anniversary of the first World Hindi Conference held in Nagpur on January 10, 1975.
• The conference was inaugurated by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi in Nagpur.
• World Hindi Day was first celebrated in 2006 by former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. The aim of the conference was to promote Hindi language worldwide.
• On this day most of the schools and colleges across the country encourage students to participate in various literary and cultural programmes like poems competitions, essays, and letters writing completion in the language.

Important details –

• Hindi is considered to be the mother language of India. It is the simplest source of expression of our nation.
• It is our heritage and the most widely spoken language across the country.
• The word Hindi originated from the Persian word Hind, meaning the land of the Indus river.
• Apart from India, the language is also spoken in Nepal, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Fiji, and Mauritius.
• Therefore, to promote the Hindi language all around the world, International Hindi Day or World Hindi Day is celebrated every year.

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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 -

• Nihal Sarin won the Under-18 FIDE Online world cadets and youth rapid chess championship.
• Sunil Kothari, 87, passed away in Dec 2020 in New Delhi. He received the Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 1995.
• Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Bill-2020 passed by Assembly.
• According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, ‘Pandemic’ is the Word of The Year in 2020.
• The 11th National Organ Donation Day was observed on November 27, 2020.

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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