Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 19-01-2021

Useful compilation of Civil Services oriented - Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 19-01-2021

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. Covid-19 – Covaxin not to be used in cases of allergy, fever, poor immunity – Those with a history of allergies, fever and bleeding disorder, people on blood thinners and those with compromised immunity or on medication that affects the immune system have been told by Bharat Biotech, manufacturer of Covaxin, not to take the COVID-19 vaccine. A statement uploaded on the company website on January 18 said the vaccine was also contraindicated for pregnant and lactating women, those using other COVID-19 vaccines and people with any other serious health-related issues as determined by the vaccinator or the officer supervising the vaccination. The statement comes amid reports of a slow uptake of the first phase of COVID-19 vaccination that began on January 16. Bharat Biotech has now released a fact sheet detailing the possible adverse events.
2. Agriculture – Only police should decide on tractor rally, says SC – The Supreme Court has said the Union government and the Delhi Police should take a call on whether or not protesting farmers could hold tractor or vehicle marches on Republic Day in the national capital. The CJI said there was still time for the Union of India and the Delhi Police to “invoke all its powers”. The government wanted the court to pass an injunction order to restrain farmers from holding rallies to “disrupt” the Republic Day celebrations in Delhi. The government said the right to express dissent against the farm laws did not include a right to “malign the nation globally”.
3. Economy – Govt. may raise import duties by 5-10% – India is considering raising import duties by 5%-10% on more than 50 items including smartphones, electronic components and appliances in the upcoming budget. The move to increase import duties is part of PM Modi’s self-reliant India campaign that aims to promote and support domestic manufacturing, said the sources, who asked not to be named as the discussions are not public. One of the sources said the government was seeking to target additional revenue of about ₹200 billion to ₹210 billion, as it looks to shore up revenue amid the COVID-19 pandemic-driven slowdown that has stung the economy. Two of the government sources also said the duty increases could impact furniture and electric vehicles, potentially hurting the likes of Swedish furniture maker Ikea and Tesla, which is planning to launch its cars in India this year.
4. Economy – China’s economy grows 2.3%, slowest pace in 44 years – China’s economy expanded in 2020 by 2.3% , the slowest pace of growth since the end of Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution in 1976. China will, however, likely be the only major economy to have avoided a contraction in a pandemic-hit year, underlining its strong recovery after weeks of lockdown at the start of the year brought economic activity in the Asian giant to a near-standstill. China’s economy contracted 6.8% in the first quarter. The stringent lockdown did, however, allow the country to broadly curb the spread of COVID-19 at home by the summer. The economy recovered to grow 3.2% in the second quarter, 4.9% in the third and 6.5% in the last quarter of 2020.
5. World – Navalny remanded in custody for 30 days – A judge has ordered Alexei Navalny to be remanded in custody for 30 days. The ruling concluded an hours-long court hearing set up at a police precinct where the politician was held since his arrest at a Moscow airport on January 17. Mr. Navalny flew to Russia from Germany, where he had spent five months recovering from nerve agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin. He was detained at passport control at Sheremetyevo airport after flying in from Berlin, where he was treated following the poisoning in August. Mr. Navalny’s arrest prompted a wave of criticism from U.S. and European officials, adding to existing tension between Russia and West. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas noted that Mr. Navalny had returned of his own volition and said “it is completely incomprehensible that he was detained by Russian authorities immediately after his arrival”.
6. World – U.S., China spar over the origins of novel coronavirus – The U.S. and China have sparred over the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, the latest in a growing list of tensions that have left relations strained as President Trump leaves office. Recently, Washington and Beijing have clashed over trade issues, the sanctioning of Chinese companies, Taiwan and Hong Kong. In a reflection of the state of relations, China’s official Xinhua news agency issued a commentary, headlined “Good riddance, Trump administration and its final madness”, hitting out over the sanctioning of six Chinese officials related to Hong Kong. The latest spat followed the U.S. State Department on January 15 releasing a “fact-sheet” linking the Wuhan Institute of Virology to the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, which brought another sharp response from Beijing.
7. Agriculture – Women take the stage at Singhu border – Women took over the stage, security and stage management at the Singhu border as protesting farmers observed Mahila Kisan Divas on January 18. The crowd sitting in front of the stage primarily comprised women. Behind the main stage, two women guarded the rear entrance and women volunteers managed the list of people going on stage to speak. All the speakers on January 18 were women. Groups of women reached the Delhi borders in buses, trucks and tractors to be a part of Mahila Kisan Divas and talked about how important their role is in the ongoing agitation.
8. Polity & Governance – Delhi sees 30% dip in street crime – The Delhi Police Control Room (PCR) has witnessed a sharp decline of 29.72% in calls related to robbery, snatching and motor vehicle thefts in the national capital till mid-January 2021 as compared to the corresponding period in 2020. During the period from January 1, 2021 to January 15, 2021 – 523 calls related to robbery were reported to the PCR as against 604 in the corresponding period of 2020 (from January 1 to January 15). This resulted in a decline of 13.42% in incidents of robbery. There has been a sharp decline of 29.72% in PCR calls regarding robbery, snatching and motor vehicle theft till mid-January this year as compared to the corresponding period, 2020.
9. International Relations – ‘Land under PLA control since 1959’ – The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has said it was aware of infrastructure construction by China in the past several years “along the Line of Actual Control (LAC)” and that India has also stepped up its construction. The statement came after a report by NDTV showed satellite images of a new Chinese settlement in Arunachal Pradesh. This is the first time the government has acknowledged Chinese construction, although official sources say the land has been under the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) control since 1959.
10. Environment & Ecology – New monsoon forecast models on the anvil – The IMD may introduce new monsoon models in 2021 to better forecast changes in rainfall. At a day-long meet, discussions took place on the accuracy of the existing models, emerging weather models and their strengths and weaknesses in capturing the vagaries of the monsoon and the extent to which they were effective, over varying time-scales, in forecasting heavy rain or an extended dry patch. The monsoon in 2020 was unique, in that with monsoon 2019, it was only the third time in a century that India saw back-to-back years of above normal rainfall. In both years — and monsoon 2019 was a 25-year high — the IMD failed to forecast the magnitude of the excess and only indicated that the monsoon would be “above normal”.

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5	Indian Institute of Soil Science	Field Asst	7	Degree (Agriculture/ Horticulture/ Forestry)	02-02-2021 – Walk in	http://www.iiss.nic.in/Recruitment/RecFA150121.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 ‘Using God’s name to sell articles illegal’: Bombay High Court

 

Highlights –

• The Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court has declared that advertisement of any article using the name of any God and claiming that it has supernatural qualities, is “illegal” and falls under the Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act.
• A petitioner had sought ban on advertisements on television channels that promote the sale of articles like Hanuman Chalisa Yantra. 

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

2.1 India’s foreign exchange reserves go up

 

 

Highlights –

• India’s foreign exchange reserves jumped up by around $758 million during the week ending 8 January to reach a record high of over $586.082 billion.
• As per reports, the reserves rose from previous week's $585.324 billion to $586.082 billion.
• India’s forex reserves comprise foreign currency assets (FCAs), gold reserves, special drawing rights (SDRs), and the country’s reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
• On a weekly basis, FCAs, the largest component of the forex reserves, edged higher by $150 million to $541.791 billion.
• Expressed in dollar terms, the foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units like the euro, pound, and yen held in the foreign exchange reserves.
• Meanwhile, the value of the country’s gold reserves increased by $568 million to $37.594 billion.
• In addition to these, India's reserve position with the IMF surged by $35 million to $5.181 billion.
• India's special drawing rights with the IMF edged higher marginally by $5 million to $1.515 billion.

2.2 News Round-up – Banking and Finance

• SMCB becomes India’s first urban co-operative bank to transition to SFB - Shivalik Small Finance Bank (SSFB) will start its banking operations from April 2021. It has received the commercial banking license from banking regulator Reserve Bank of India (RBI). This will mark the transition of Shivalik Mercantile Co-operative Bank (SMCB) to a Small Finance Bank (SFB). SMCB is India’s first urban co-operative bank (UCB) to transition to an SFB.

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

3.1 Government brings forward 20% ethanol-blending with gasoline

 

 

Highlights – 

• India plans to achieve 20% ethanol-blending with gasoline by 2025, five years ahead of its previous target, to help reduce its dependence on costly oil imports.
• In 2019, the government had set a target of reaching 10% ethanol-blending by 2022 - meaning 10% of ethanol mixed with 90% of gasoline - and 20% by 2030.
• India is the world’s third biggest oil importer, relying on foreign suppliers to meet more than 80% of its demand.
• In the current ethanol supply year, which started in October 2019, India plans to have 8.5% ethanol-blending with gasoline. This would be raised to 10% by mixing in 4 billion litres of ethanol by 2022.
• To achieve 20% blending by 2025, and to meet the requirement of the chemical and other sectors, about 12 billion litres of alcohol/ethanol would be required.
• The sugar industry will divert 6 million tonnes of surplus sugar to produce 7 billion litres of the ethanol needed, while the other 5 billion litres of ethanol will be produced from excess grain.

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

4.1 US finds India’s digital services tax discriminatory

  

Highlights – 

• The US has determined that India's Digital Services Tax is discriminatory and has an adverse impact on American commerce and is actionable under the trade act.
• At the same time, the outgoing Trump administration has left the onus of taking any action against India under Section 301 of the US Trade Act to the incoming Biden administration.
• Publishing the results of the investigation on the Digital Service Tax (DST) in the Federal Register on January 12, the US Trade Representatives (USTR) said that it had consultations with the Indian Government on the issue on November 5, 2020.
• Responding to the outgoing Trump administration's move, India has said the two per cent equalisation levy does not discriminate against US companies as it applies equally to all non-resident e-commerce operators irrespective of their country of residence.
• In the report, the USTR describes DST as an outlier which burdens US companies by subjecting them to double taxation.
• In the report, the USTR describes DST as an outlier which burdens US companies by subjecting them to double taxation.
• The DST imposes a two per cent tax on revenue generated from a broad range of digital services offered in India, including digital platform services, digital content sales, digital sales of a company's own goods, data-related services, software-as-a-service, and several other categories of digital services.
• India's DST only applies to non-resident companies. The tax applies as of April 1, 2020.

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

5.1 Third phase of PMKVY

 

 

Highlights –

• The Third Phase of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) has been launched in 600 districts across the country. This phase will focus on new-age and COVID-related skills.
• Skill India Mission-PMKVY 3.0 envisages training of eight lakh candidates over a scheme period of 2020-2021 with an outlay of Rs 949 crore.
• PM Modi launched the Skill India Programme in 2015 and it has gained tremendous momentum through the launch of its flagship scheme PMKVY to unlock the vision of making India the Skill Capital of the world.
• Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana is a skill development initiative scheme of the Government of India for recognition and standardisation of skills.
• The aim of the scheme is to encourage aptitude towards employable skills and to increase working efficiency of probable and existing daily wage earners, by giving monetary awards and rewards and by providing quality training to them.

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• 6. MISCELLANEOUS (Prelims, Various GS Papers)

6.1 News Round-up – Accidents and Natural Disasters

• Spain: 4 killed due to heavy snowfall from Storm Filomena - The Spanish government will send convoys carrying the COVID-19 vaccine and food supplies on January 10, 2021 to areas cut off by Storm Filomena which brought the heaviest snowfall in decades across central Spain and killed four people.
• Boeing 737-500 plane of Indonesia’s Sriwijaya Air crashes - A passenger plane of Indonesia’s Sriwijaya Air carrying 62 people on board crashed into waters off Jakarta on January 9, 2021. The Boeing 737-500 was on an estimated 90-minute flight from Jakarta to Pontianak, capital of West Kalimantan province on Indonesia’s Borneo island. On January 10, rescuers pulled out body parts, pieces of clothing and scraps of metal from the Java Sea.
• Nagaland: Fire in Dzukou range doused - As no active fire was noticed in Nagaland’s Dzukou range on January 10, 2021. According to forest officials, operations will be scaled down but the situation will be monitored. A fire erupted in the Dzukou range in Kohima district on December 29, 2020, damaging flora and fauna over a large area. 

6.2 News Round-up – Arts, Culture and History

• Singer Gerry Marsden passes away in UK at 78 - Gerry Marsden, lead singer of the 1960s British group Gerry and the Pacemakers that had such hits as ``Ferry Cross the Mersey’’ and the song that became the anthem of Liverpool Football Club, ``You’ll Never Walk Alone,’’ died on January 3, 2021 at the age of 78.

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• 7. POLITY (Prelims, GS Paper 2)

7.1 Centre asks States/UTs to relax detention norms to prevent drop-outs

 

• Schools must relax detention norms in order to prevent drop-outs in a year when COVID-19 has disrupted the teaching and learning process, according to an Education Ministry directive issued on January 10, 2021.
• The Ministry also told the States to conduct comprehensive door-to-door surveys to identify children out of school and migrant students, and prepare an action plan to prevent increased drop-outs, lower enrolments, loss of learning and deterioration in the gains made in providing universal access, quality and equity in recent years.
• Schools shut down in mid-March 2020, just before the COVID-19 lockdown. Some States have started reopening physical classes for high school students over the last two months, but most of India’s students have spent last 10 months at home.
• While some have access to online classes, the majority are making do with televised classes, WhatsApp teaching, and learning on their own.
• Guidelines have been prepared “in order to ensure that school-going children have access to education with quality and equity and to minimize the impact of the pandemic on school education across the country,” said the statement.
• To determine the scope of the problem, the Education Ministry has directed the States to identify out-of-school children in the 6 to 18 years age group through a comprehensive door-to-door survey.

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

8.1 Not Available Today

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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 -

• Soma Mondal has taken over as the new Chairperson of SAIL.
• The Army has decided to restore grave of ‘Naushera ka Sher’ that is located on the campus of Jamia Millia Islamia University.
• Union Home Minister Amit Shah laid the foundation stone of Churachandpur Medical College in Manipur.
• Astad Deboo died in Mumbai in Dec 2020 at the age of 73. He received the Padma Shri award in 2007.
• Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal pitches for removal of non-tariff barriers by Sweden and EU.

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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