Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 25-01-2021

Useful compilation of Civil Services oriented - Daily Current Affairs - Civil Services - 25-01-2021

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• SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. World – K.P. Sharma Oli expelled from Nepal Communist Party – The ruling Nepal Communist Party, led by rebel leaders Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ and former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal expelled Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli from the party on January 24. The decision divided the party into two groups and sparked a dispute over the party symbol but the Election Commission declined to recognise either faction as the official party. The deepening crisis emerged weeks after Mr. Oli dissolved the Lower House, Pratinidhi Sabha, of Parliament on December 20, which was strongly opposed by Mr. Prachanda and Mr. Nepal who wanted the House to be restored. Soon after the dissolution of the Pratinidhi Sabha, Mr. Oli created a committee of his supporters, which indicated that he would launch a takeover of the party in case of an adversarial action by the rebel leaders.
2. Agriculture – Police, farmers finalise routes for tractor parades – Farmers’ unions and the Delhi police fine-tuned plans for the tractor parades on three routes on Republic Day, with the protesters permitted to enter the Capital for about 100 km but restricted to the border areas. After five or six marathon meetings with farmer unions that wanted to carry out a peaceful rally in the capital on Republic Day, Special Commissioner of Police (Intelligence) Deependra Pathak said the Delhi police had come to an in-principle understanding, which will be “a win-win situation for all”. The tractor parades will enter Delhi but remain in areas near the border from the three entry points. Each of the routes planned are approximately 60 km long and in total about 100 km is within the territory of the National Capital. Farmers will be allowed to enter the city only after the completion of the official Republic Day parade.
3. World – Biden govt. to review U.S.-Taliban deal – The Biden administration said it will review a landmark U.S. deal with the Taliban, focusing on whether the insurgent group has reduced attacks in Afghanistan, in keeping with its side of the agreement. Washington struck a deal with the Taliban in Qatar in 2020, to begin withdrawing its troops in return for security guarantees from the militants and a commitment to kick-start peace talks with the Afghan government. But violence across Afghanistan has surged despite the two sides engaging in those talks since September 2020. President Biden’s newly appointed National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, spoke with his Afghan counterpart Hamdullah Mohib and “made clear the US’ intention to review” the deal. Washington’s move was met with a sigh of relief from officials in Kabul after months of speculation over how the new administration would potentially recalibrate the Afghan policy.
4. International Relations – India, China hold military talks – The ninth round of Corps Commander-level talks between India and China were under way on January 24 at the Moldo border personnel meeting point on the Chinese side opposite Chushul in Eastern Ladakh as both sides attempt to work out a phased disengagement and de-escalation plan to end the nine-month stand-off. Officials said a broad disengagement plan had been worked out but it was held up over some issues. Both sides would attempt to work that out at the talks. This was the reason for the delay in scheduling the ninth round of talks. The eighth round was held in November 2020.
5. World – U.S. vows support to Taiwan as Chinese incursions enter Day 2 – A total of 15 Chinese aircraft, including 12 fighter jets, entered the southwestern corner of Taiwan’s air defence identification zone on January 24, the second day of incursions by China. A map provided by the Ministry showed the Chinese aircraft again flew in between the southern part of Taiwan and the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands in the South China Sea. The U.S. State Department has said it was concerned by China’s “pattern of ongoing attempts to intimidate its neighbours, including Taiwan.” The State Department statement said Washington will continue to deepen ties with Taiwan and ensure its defence from Chinese threats, while supporting a peaceful resolution of issues between the sides.
6. Economy – Johnson presses Biden for new trade deal – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson made clear to President Joe Biden on January 23 that he’s eager to forge a new U.S.-U.K. trade deal. The push for a new deal came in a broad-ranging call between the two leaders that touched on the global response to the coronavirus pandemic as well as the Biden administration announcing this week that the U.S. would rejoin the Paris climate accord and the World Health Organization. A new trade agreement between the allies is a higher priority for Mr. Johnson than it is for Mr. Biden. The U.K. regained control over its national trade policy at the start of the month following the end of a post-Brexit transition period. The White House in its own statement said that the two leaders spoke about combating climate change, containing COVID-19, and ensuring global health security. But the statement notably made no mention of discussion on trade.
7. Covid-19 – ‘Million shots in under a week’ – India took less than a week to vaccinate over a million beneficiaries. The country is ahead of the U.S. (10 days) and the U.K. (18) in achieving this mark. More than 31,000 healthcare workers have been vaccinated in five States on the ninth day of the countrywide COVID-19 vaccination programme. A total of 31,466 beneficiaries were vaccinated till 7.30 p.m. on January 24 in Haryana (907), Karnataka (2,472), Punjab (1,007), Rajasthan (24,586) and Tamil Nadu (2,494). The cumulative number of healthcare workers vaccinated has crossed 16 lakh (16,13,667)  through 28,613 sessions. On January 24, India’s active COVID-19 cases stood at 1,84,408, with 15,948 recoveries in the last 24 hours.
8. Survey/Study – Sunderbans is home to 428 species of birds, says ZSI – The Indian Sunderbans, which is part of the largest mangrove forest in the world, is home to 428 species of birds. The publication not only documents the avifauna of the Sunderbans, but also serves as a comprehensive photographic field guide, with detailed distribution and locality data for all the species from the region. The Indian Sunderbans, which covers 4,200 sq. km, also includes the Sunderban Tiger Reserve of 2,585 sq. km — home to about 96 royal Bengal tigers (as per the last census in 2020). It is a world heritage site and a Ramsar site (a wetland site designated to be of international importance).
9. Survey/Report – ‘Chinese using Indian roads for trespass’ – As India and China started the ninth round of Corps Commander talks to address the nine-month-long standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, the head of one of the border villages claimed that Chinese vehicles were using Indian roads to enter Indian territory. Urgain Tsewang, the nambardaar (village head) of Koyul (Kakjung), one of the last settlements in the Demchok sector, shared a video dated December 16, 2020, where two Chinese vehicles are seen being turned away by a group of locals and security personnel. In another video, a few Chinese civilians are seen taking photographs of the area, with their vehicles parked nearby.
10. Polity & Governance – Mock trials of remote voting project soon: CEC – Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora has said the trials of the Election Commission’s remote voting project would be carried out soon. In his television and radio address on the eve of the National Voters Day, Mr. Arora highlighted the vision of the EC going forward. The system being developed by the IIT-M uses blockchain for two-way remote voting at designated centres, an EC official had said when the project was started in 2020. Mr. Arora said “another significant change we can look forward to is grant of postal ballot facility to overseas electors”.

Important Exam Notifications
S. No	Institution	Exam or Post Name	Vacancies or Seats	Qualification	Last Date to Apply	Link for Details
1	SBI	Specialist Cadre Officer	5	B.E/ B.Tech, PG, MBA/ PGDM	12-02-2021	https://www.sbi.co.in/documents/77530/400725/210121-Copy+of+MANAGER+RETAIL+DETAILED+ADVT.pdf/c1cd05e9-f627-1f20-8e3a-6eeb556be5de?t=1611234907547
2	National Board of Examinations	Assistant Director (Medical)	7	PG (Relevant Disciplines)	20-02-2021	https://natboard.edu.in/viewNotice.php?NBE=ZUw1UUFYNHI4U1E2U3I1eWM5WnF1QT09
3	ECIL	Technical Officer	19	Degree (Engg)	31-01-2021	https://careers.ecil.co.in/app/Advt_02_2021.pdf
4	ECIL	Technical Officer, Scientific Asst A, Jr Artisan	28	ITI, Diploma, Degree (Engg)	03-02-2021	https://careers.ecil.co.in/app/Advt.No.%2004_2021.pdf
5	CSIR-NBRI	Sr Project Associate, Project Associate, Technician	23	Any Degree, B.Sc, M.Sc, Ph.D	01 to 03-02-2021	https://nbri.res.in/media/Walk-in-Interview-Ad-02-2021.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 28 non-official members added to start-up council

   

Key points –

• The government has nominated 28 non-official members on the National Startup Advisory Council including Byju Raveendran, founder, Byju’s, Lizzie Chapman, co-founder of ZestMoney, Axilor Ventures chairman Kris Gopalkrishnan among other startup founders and investors.
• The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) had set up the National Startup Advisory Council a year back to advise the government on measures needed to build an ecosystem for nurturing innovation and startups in the country.
• The term of the non-official members of the council is for a period of two years.
• As per reports, the council will suggest measures to foster a culture of innovation among citizens and students in particular, promote innovation in all sectors and across semi-urban and rural areas, promote creation, protection and commercialization of intellectual property rights and make it easier to start, operate, grow and exit businesses by reducing regulatory compliances and costs.

2.2 A concession agreement between Adani Group and the Airport Authority of India

 

 

Highlights –

• The Airports Authority of India has signed a concession agreement with Adani Group for three airports including Thiruvananthapuram International Airport.
• With the agreement signed, the company would take over the airport within six months. After the takeover, it would be operated jointly by AAI and Adani Enterprises Ltd in the first year. By the next one year, the employees’ service conditions should be finalised.
• On January 19, 2021, the Airport Authority of India Employees Union staged a protest against the signing of the agreement in front of the Thiruvananthapuram airport director’s office.
• The authority tweeted on January 20 that AAI signed three concession agreements with Adani Airports Ltd for operations, management and development of Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram airports through PPP mode.
• The state government and the employees union had moved the Supreme Court against the decision to lease the airport. The government filed an appeal in the apex court challenging the Kerala High Court order which dismissed its plea in November 2020.
• As per reports, Madhya Pradesh has started Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) of electricity subsidy to farmers in one district of the state with effect from December 2020. Thus, it has successfully implemented one of the three stipulated reforms in the power sector.
• Successful implementation of the reform has made the state eligible to mobilise additional financial resources equivalent to 0.15 per cent of its Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP).
• The Centre had in May 2020 enhanced the borrowing limit of the states by 2 per cent of their GSDP. Half of this special dispensation was linked to undertaking citizen-centric reforms by the states.
• The states get permission to raise additional funds equivalent to 0.25 per cent of GSDP on completion of reforms in each sector.
• The four citizen-centric areas identified for reforms were (a) Implementation of One Nation One Ration Card System, (b) Ease of doing business reform, (c) Urban Local body/ utility reforms and (d) Power Sector reforms.
• Till now, 14 states have carried out at least one of the four stipulated reforms and have been granted reform linked borrowing permissions.

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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 Copyright news payment deal

 

 

Highlights – 

• Google has signed a deal with a group of French publishers paving the way for the internet giant to make digital copyright payments for online news content.
• Google France and the Alliance de la Presse d'Information Generale have agreed to set up a framework under which the U.S. company will negotiate individual licensing deals with publishers.
• Google has already negotiated a few individual payment deals with some French news publishers such as national daily paper Le Monde and weekly magazine l'Obs.
• The company was compelled to negotiate with publishers and news agencies for reusing their material online under a neighboring rights" law that took effect after France became the first country to adopt new European Union copyright rules.
• Google had initially balked at paying for news, saying new companies benefited from the millions of readers it sends to their websites. But, in 2020, an appeals court ordered the company to open talks with publishers.
• As per the framework agreement, payments will be based on criteria such as the amount published daily and monthly internet traffic.
• News companies had pushed for the EU copyright reform amid worries that quality journalism is declining as ad revenue gets siphoned off by the digital giants.

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

5.1 Centre approves construction of over 1.68 lakh houses under PMAY-Urban

 

Highlights – 

• The government has approved the construction of over 1.68 lakh houses in urban areas under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, taking the total number of houses sanctioned so far to 1.1 crore.
• Under PMAY-U, 41 lakh houses have been completed so far while construction is in various stages in more than 70 lakh houses.
• The PMAY(U), launched by PM Modi in June 2015, aims to ensure "Housing for all by 2022".
• The government has set a target of 1.12 crore houses to be constructed in urban areas in the country over a period of seven years from 2015 to 2022. 

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• 6. MISCELLANEOUS (Prelims, Various GS Papers)

6.1 Exercise Kavach

 

 

Key points – 

• The Indian Army is to conduct a large scale joint military exercise Kavach in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal. The exercise is to be held under the aegis of Andaman and Nicobar Command.
• The exercise involves synergised application of maritime surveillance assets, coordinated air and maritime strikes, air defence, submarine and landing operations.
• The joint force will execute multi-domain, high-intensity offensive and defensive manoeuvres in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal.
• The tri-services exercise aims to fine tune joint war-fighting capabilities and Standard Operating Procedures towards enhancing operational synergy.

6.2 HAL successfully test-fires DRDO’s smart weapon

 

 

Highlights –

• Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) on January 21 announced that a Hawk-I aircraft successfully fired a Smart Anti-Airfield Weapon (SAAW) for the first time off the coast of Odisha, in what is being seen as a significant boost to an upgrade programme for the Hawk advanced jet trainer operated by the Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy.
• The SAAW is a precision strike weapon that can be used to target enemy airfield assets such as radars, bunkers, taxi tracks and runways.
• Indigenously developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation’s research centre Imarat, the weapon has a range of 100 km. It was test-fired from the IAF’s Jaguar fighter planes.
• It is the first smart weapon to be fired from an Indian Hawk Mk132 trainer aircraft.
• The plane was flown by HAL test pilots Wing Commanders (retd) P Awasthi and M Patel.

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• 7. POLITY (Prelims, GS Paper 2)

7.1 Chintan Baithak

 

Key points –

• Shri Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of Ports,Shipping and Waterways (I/C) will chair three-day Ports Review Meeting named ‘Chintan Baithak’ at Dhordo, Kutch,Gujarat.
• From 21st to 23rd January 2021, Chairpersons of all Major Ports of India and Senior Officials of the ministry will participate in the extensive brainstorming conference to finalise the roadmap of Maritime Vision-2030.
• The Chintan Baithak includes sessions on exploring new vistas of urban transportation, effective implementation of SAROD-Ports, issues related to International Arbitrations etc.
• The future action plan for development of satellite ports by all major ports will be deliberated.
• Discussion on opening up more new routes for RO- RO, RO-PaX ferry and Seaplane services across the nation,and discussion on ways and means for increasing volume & movement of Coastal Cargo will also take place.

7.2 Statehood Day of Manipur, Meghalaya, Tripura

 

Key points –

• PM Modi praised the warm-hearted people of northestern states of Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura and acknowledged their contributions to national development as he congratulated them on their Statehood Day on January 21.
• On this day in 1972, all the three states became full-fledged states under the North Eastern Region (Reorganisation) Act, 1971.
• On Statehood Day of Manipur, PM Modi hailed the state as a powerhouse of innovation and sporting talent.
• The erstwhile princely states of Tripura and Manipur were merged into the Indian Union in October 1949 and became full-fledged states on January 21, 1972. Meghalaya was part of Assam before becoming a full-fledged state on the same day.
• All the three northeastern states became full-fledged states under the North Eastern Region (Re-Organisation) Act, 1971.

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

8.1 Those excluded in NRC can vote

 

Key points –

• A day after the Election Commission announced that those excluded from the National Register of Citizens (NRC) will be eligible to vote in the upcoming assembly poll if their names are there on the voter list, the ruling BJP has said status quo about their voting rights has to be maintained while the Congress and the AIUDF welcomed the decision.
• The final NRC, a database of Indian citizens living in Assam which was updated under the supervision of the Supreme Court and published on August 31, 2019, excluded names of over 19 lakh of the 3.29 crore applicants.
• However, it has not been notified by the Registrar General of India yet. This leaves the document without any official validity.
• Altogether 83,008 cases of doubtful voters are pending in Foreigners Tribunals in Assam while 86,756 others were declared as foreigners in the last five years.
• After the publication of the final NRC, almost all stakeholders and political parties criticised it as a faulty document, alleging exclusion of indigenous people and inclusion of illegal migrants.

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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 -

• Zeel Desai is Tennis player from India.
• PM Modi in Jan 2021 held a video-teleconference with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany.
• PM Modi laid the foundation stone of AIIMS Rajkot in Gujarat through a video conference in Dec 2020.
• The Indian Army has finalised procurement of 12 high-performance patrol boats from Goa Shipyard.
• Karnataka has unveiled the Farmer Registration and Unified beneficiary Information System (FRUITS).

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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