DAILY DIGEST for 29-04-2020 - USEFUL FOR ALL COMPETITIVE EXAMS

PART 1 - Daily Current Affairs + MCQ quiz to solve

 

SECTION 1 - TEN NEWS HEADLINES

1. 1 more deaths as cases near 30,000 – India has reported 1,594 new cases and 51 new deaths related to COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of cases to 29,974. This includes 22,010 active cases, 7027 discharged and migration and 937 deaths. The country currently is registering a recovery rate of 23.3%. Data from the State Health Departments put the nationwide death toll at 973 and the total number of cases at 30,415, with 22,088 active ones. Maharahstra continued to report the maximum number with over 8,500 active cases. Gujarat reported 226 new positive cases, with Ahmedabad alone accounting for 164 in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of the affected people in the State to 3,774.
2. Ministry does U-turn on plasma therapy – Plasma therapy is not an approved treatment for COVID-19 and is only one of the several therapies being explored currently, the Union Health Ministry. The therapy is still at an experimental stage and the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) is currently studying its efficacy, it added. The Health Ministry statement comes days after the Drug Controller General of India gave its go-ahead to a proposal by the ICMR for the clinical trial of convalescent plasma therapy in COVID-19 patients as per the protocol developed by the Council. Last week, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had asked the Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS) to contact recovered COVID-19 patients to come forward for blood donation, from which convalescent plasma could be collected and used.
3. Govt. starts planning for Haridwar Kumbh Mela - Crowds, or even the prospect of one, may be anathema everywhere, but the government has begun planning for the Maha Kumbh Mela in Haridwar, Uttarakhand, in January 2021. The gathering has a long history and draws large crowds from the world over, who come to take a ritualistic dip in the Ganga. An April 16 meeting, organised by the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), the Water Ministry body overseeing the clean up of the river, discussed funds needed by the Uttarakhand government for providing community toilets and urinals for the attendees. The Maha Kumbh Mela is organised once in 12 years, and the last time the event was held in 2010, about 10 million reportedly congregated in the city. For organising the event, the State sought ₹85 crore from the NMCG for creating 16,075 community toilets (made of fibre and portable) and 20,000 community urinals.
4. Capital reports no deaths for third consecutive day – No fresh virus-related deaths were reported in the city for the third consecutive. But 206 new cases were registered, taking the total to 3,314, according to the Delhi government. Of the total cases, 1,078 people have recovered and there are 2,182 active cases. A total of 54 people have died due to the virus so far. Another area in the city has also been sealed off, taking the total number of containment zones to 100. Meanwhile, four more people working at Delhi government’s Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital, including a doctor, have tested positive for COVID-19, taking the total number of workers infected at the hospital to 31.
5. Animal poaching registers a sharp increase during lockdown - The instances of poaching of wild animals and birds, including the endangered chinkara or Indian gazelle, have registered a sharp increase across Rajasthan during the COVID-19 lockdown, with the hunters taking advantage of slack monitoring and sparse public movement in the remote areas. Armed poachers have been moving inside the national parks and wildlife sanctuaries since the lockdown was enforced. Besides killing chinkaras and blackbucks, the poachers have targeted peacocks, grey francolins and other birds covered under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, as endangered species. Instances of chinkara poaching were reported in Pali, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and Nagaur districts.
6. No improvement in Ganga water quality during lockdown – The lockdown may have dramatically reduced air pollution across the country but it hasn’t significantly reduced pollution in the Ganga. The dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration, a measure of the amount of free oxygen available in river systems, “rose marginally” from March 22-April 15. A high DO value is considered a good indicator of river health. However, two other measures, BOD (Biological Oxygen Demand) and COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand) — both indicators of the amount of oxygen necessary to break down organic and inorganic pollution — showed “insignificant reductions”, the CPCB report notes. The lower these numbers are the better they indicate river health.
7. U.S. may seek damages from China – U.S. President Donald Trump suggested he may seek damages from China over the COVID-19 pandemic, which began in the Chinese city of Wuhan and spread around the world, prompting a furious response from Beijing. Beijing and Washington have clashed repeatedly over the outbreak as tensions have soared between the world’s two biggest economic powers. Mr. Trump was asked about a recent German newspaper editorial, which called on China to pay Germany $165 billion in reparations because of economic damage due to the virus. Asked if the U.S. would consider doing the same, Mr. Trump said “we can do something much easier than that.”
8. South Asia faces health crisis as children miss vaccination – South Asia could face a further public health crisis as children miss routine vaccinations, the UN warned, spurring fears that the fallout from the pandemic might reverse hard-earned gains in the region. The United Nations children’s agency UNICEF said hundreds of thousands were at risk as lockdowns across South Asia halted immunisation drives and parents refrained from taking their children to doctors to be inoculated. Bangladesh and Nepal have halted their measles and rubella campaigns while Pakistan and Afghanistan have suspended their polio drives since the COVID-19 pandemic.
9. Venezuela names official indicted by U.S. as Oil Minister - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro tasked Tareck El Aissami — a Vice-President for the economy who has been indicted in the U.S. on drugs trafficking charges — with “restructuring and reorganization” of the OPEC member’s crippled oil industry. Mr. Maduro also named Asdrubal Chavez, cousin of the late President Hugo Chavez, as interim President of the state oil firm PDVSA. The U.S. in 2017 designated El Aissami as having played “a significant role in international narcotics trafficking” and placed him on a most-wanted fugitives list in August last year.
10. Olympics cancellation likely if vaccine not found in time – The postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics will have to be cancelled if a vaccine isn’t found and the coronavirus pandemic brought under control by next year, the organising committee's president warned, ruling out further delays. The comments, in an interview with Japanese sports daily Nikkan Sports published, come as medical experts doubted whether the pandemic can be sufficiently contained by next year to hold an event drawing participants and spectators from around the world. The pandemic has already forced a year-long delay of the Games, which are now scheduled to open on July 23, 2021.

SECTION 2 - DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS

1. CONSTITUTION AND LAW (Prelims, GS Paper 2, Essay paper)

1.1 Weekly Roundup – Constitution and Law

• SC grants three weeks protection from arrest to Republic TV Chief Editor Arnab Goswami.
• NDPS – Qualiy of neutral substances in mixture must be taken into account with actual drug weight to determine ‘small or commercial quantity’. 
• SC rejects challenge against regularisation of teachers in HP after 15 years.
• In pleas seeking restoration of 4G internet connectivity, the Supreme Court sought the centre’s response.
• 100 percent reservation of Teachers belonging to the Schedule Tribe category at schools situated in “Scheduled Areas” is constitutionally invalid.
• Consent of the state in which accused resides or emoplyed not necessrary for CBI investigation when the offence is committed in NCT of Delhi: SC.
• Both centre and the state have concurrent powers to fix prices of Sugarcane.
• Delhi HC: Parents can approach Directorate of Education if they are aggrieved by any school charging consolidated fees during lockdown.
• Kerala HC restrains sprinklr from breaching data confedentiality; Government directed to anonymize data and take informed consent.
• Union to Bombay HC – Use of Rapid Antibody Test Kits on hold due to divergent outcomes of samples tests.
• Payment of fine is a mode of punishment; can’t be a condition for bail – Jharkhand HC.

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

 

2.1 Government cuts subsidy for non-urea fertilisers, to cost Rs 22,186.55 crore for FY21

 

 

• The Centre on April 22, 2020 slashed the subsidy on non-urea fertilisers, a move that would reduce the burden on the exchequer to Rs 22,186.55 crore in this fiscal amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
• A decision in this regard was taken at the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• The CCEA has given its approval for fixation of nutrient-based subsidy (NBS) rates for phosphatic and potassic (P&K) fertilisers for 2020-21. The expected expenditure for release of subsidy on P&K fertilisers during 2020-21 will be Rs 22,186.55 crore.
• The subsidy for nitrogen has been reduced to Rs 18.78 per kg, phosphorous at Rs 14.88 per kg, potash at Rs 10.11 per kg and sulphur at Rs 2.37 per kg for the current financial year.
• For 2019-20, the subsidy for nitrogen was fixed at Rs 18.90 per kg, phosphorous at Rs 15.21 per kg, potash at Rs 11.12 per kg and sulphur at Rs 3.56 per kg. And, the expected expenditure was Rs 22,875 crore during 2019-20.
• The CCEA also approved the inclusion of a complex fertiliser namely ammonium phosphate (NP 14:28:0:0) under the NBS scheme.
• In 2010, the government had launched the nutrient-based subsidy (NBS) programme under which a fixed amount of subsidy, decided on an annual basis, is provided on each grade of subsidised phosphatic and potassic (P&K) fertilisers, except for urea, based on the nutrient content present in them.
• Retail prices of non-urea fertilisers such as Di-ammonium Phosphate (DAP), Muriate of Potash (MoP) and NPK are decontrolled and are determined by manufacturers, while Centre gives a fixed subsidy each year.
• The government is making available fertilisers, namely urea and 21 grades of P&K fertilisers to farmers at subsidised prices through manufacturers/importers.
• In case of urea, the government fixes the maximum retail price (MRP). The difference between the production cost and the MRP is reimbursed to manufacturers.
   

2.2 COVID-19: Centre freezes DA, DR for its employees, pensioners

• The Centre on April 23, 2020 announced a freeze in the dearness allowance payable to central government employees and dearness relief payable to central government pensioners at current rates till July 2021.
• Additional amount of money due to government employees and government pensioners on account of revision on dearness allowance (DA) and dearness relief (DR), respectively, will not be paid from January 1, 2020.  
• But the government announced that the DA and DR at current rates will continue to be paid. The rate of DA and DR are reviewed half yearly. 
• These rates for January 1, July 1 and January 1, 2021 will be restored prospectively from July 1, 2021 but no arrears for the period from January 1, 2020 till June 30, 2021 shall be paid.

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

 

3.1 Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar attended first virtual Petersberg Climate Dialogue hosted by Germany

 

• The first virtual climate dialogue, was the eleventh session of Petersberg Climate Dialogue which has been hosted by Germany since 2010 to provide a forum for informal high-level political discussions, focusing both on international climate negotiations and the advancement of climate action.
• The Dialogue was co-chaired by Germany and United Kingdom, the incoming Presidency of 26th Conference of Parties (COP 26) to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
• The dialogue saw participation from ministers and representatives of about 30 countries.
• This year's dialogue came at a crucial juncture when countries are tackling the COVID-19 pandemic to save lives, overcoming social and economic consequences of the outbreak while also preparing to move into the implementation phase of Paris Agreement under UNFCCC in post-2020 period.
• The Dialogue is of particular importance this year as COP26, originally scheduled for November, has been postponed to an unknown date in 2021 due to the coronavirus outbreak.
• The key agenda of the dialogue was to discuss how countries can jointly tackle the challenge of reinvigorating our economies and societies after COVID-19, while enhancing our resilience and catalyzing climate action while also supporting in particular those most vulnerable.
• The Union Minister also participated in an Indo-German bilateral meeting with Svenja Shulze, Minister, Federal Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Germany, the ministry said in an official statement.
• This bilateral meeting was held via video conference just before the Petersberg Climate Dialogue, it said.

 

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

 

4.1 Brazil’s Supreme Court on Monday night authorised an investigation into whether President Jair Bolsonaro committed crimes by allegedly attempting to interfere with the country’s federal police.

4.2 US President Donald Trump nominates Indian-American Manisha Singh as US envoy to OECD.
 

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

5.1 Odisha government launched portal ‘covid19.odisha.gov.in’ for registration of migrant workers who are expected to return to the state after lifting of the lockdown on May 3

5.2 Narendra Singh Tomar issues guidelines regarding SVAMITVA Scheme that is aimed at rural people the right to document their residential properties.

5.3 Narendra Singh Tomar releases SOP for e-Gram Swaraj Yojana platform and mobile App to ensure transparency in use of funds given to the panchayats.

 

6. MISCELLANEOUS (Prelims, Various GS Papers)

 

6.1 Weekly Roundup – Arts and Culture

• Indian artist Zarina Hashmi dies aged 83 in London - New York-based Indian artist Zarina Hashmi, best known for creating simple, minimalist, yet powerful works, passed away on April 25, 2020 in London at the age of 83. She received the President’s Award for Printmaking, India in 1969.
• World Creativity and Innovation Day celebrated by UN on April 21 - World Creativity and Innovation Day was celebrated by the United Nations on April 21, 2020. The day is celebrated to raise the awareness of the role of creativity and innovation in all aspects of human development.
• World Book and Copyright Day celebrated by UNSECO on April 23 - World Book and Copyright Day was celebrated by UNSECO on April 23, 2020. Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) was named World Book Capital for the year 2020 by the Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay.
• English Language Day, Spanish Language Day celebrated by UN on April 23 - English Language Day was observed by the UN on April 23, 2020. Spanish Language Day was also celebrated on the same day.
• World Intellectual Property Day observed on April 26 - World Intellectual Property Day was observed on April 26, 2020 with its theme as ‘Innovate for a Green Future.’ The day marks the date on which WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) Convention came into force in 1970.
• Hindi theatre personality Usha Ganguly dies in Kolkata aged 75 - Eminent Hindi theatre personality Usha Ganguly passed away in Kolkata at the age of 75 on April 23, 2020. Ganguly, a Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee, founded the Rangakarmee group in 1976.
• Odia dramatist, lyricist and screenwriter Bijay Mishra dies aged 83 - Eminent Odia dramatist, lyricist and screenwriter Bijay Mishra died at the age of 83 in Bhubaneswar on April 26, 2020. Mishra was a recipient of Odisha Sahitya Akademi and Kendra Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards.

 

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7. POLITY (Prelims, GS Paper 2)

 

7.1 CVC appointment
 

• Former Andhra Bank MD and CEO Suresh N. Patel appointed as the vigilance commissioner in Central Vigilance Commission (CVC).
• His tenure will be upto December 2022.
• The tenure of vigilance commissioner is of four years or till the incumbent attains the age of 65 years.
• With Patel’s appointment, the commission will be in its full strength.
• The CVC can have a central vigilance commissioner and two vigilance commissioners.
• While Sanjay Kothari is the Central Vigilance Commissioner, Sharad Kumar is the other vigilance commissioner.

 

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

 

8.1 UIDAI permits Aadhaar updation facility through Common Service Centres (CSCs)   

 

• To make Aadhaar updating easier for citizens, Unique Identification Authority of India, UIDAI has permitted Common Service Centre, CSCs, which are designated banking correspondents of banks, to offer Aadhaar services.
• Around 20,000 such CSCs will now be able to offer this service to citizens.
• CSC Village Level Entrepreneurs to start the Aadhaar work with responsibility and as per instructions issued by UIDAI in this regard.
• UIDAI has set June deadline for the commencement of the work after CSCs with banking facilities upgrade their required infrastructure and get other necessary approvals.  
• CSC CEO Dr Dinesh Tyagi said the decision would further strengthen the efforts of achieving the goals of Digital India as envisaged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• Commencement of Aadhaar updation services through CSC also comes across as a big relief during the lockdown restrictions imposed to prevent spread of COVID-19.
• With these 20 thousand additional centers available to Aadhaar, the users particularly in rural areas need not visit Aadhaar centres in bank branches or Post Offices for this work.

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9. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (Prelims, GS Paper 3)
 

9.1 China names its first Mars exploration mission to be launched later in 2020 as Tianwen-1

 

• China on April 24, 2020 named its first Mars exploration mission to be launched later this year as Tianwen-1. 
• Aiming to catch up with India, US, Russia and the EU to reach the red planet, China’s Mars mission plans to complete orbiting, landing and roving in one mission.

9.2 IIT Delhi becomes first academic institute to get ICMR approval for a real-time diagnostic test for COVID-19

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10. FACTS, CHARTS, RANKINGS and EDITORIALS (Prelims + GS Mains)

 

10.1 Reports/ Rankings – Not Available Today

10.2 Daily dose of  FIVE Facts -

• Himachal Pradesh state celebrated its foundation day on April 15, 2020.
• Private labs are allowed to charge Rs.4,500 for screening and confirmation tests for COVID-19.  
• Parliament recently passed the Central Sanskrit Universities Bill, which seeks to upgrade three deemed to be Sanskrit universities based at Bhopal, New Delhi and Tirupati into central universities. 
• David Malpass is the President of World Bank.
• Punjab announced lowering of retirement age of government employees from 60 years to 58 in its budget recently.

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!

Source: PTeducation.com

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