weekly upsc current affairs – Vignan IAS Academy

WEEK 06 – 2020 UPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS VIGNAN IAS ACADEMY

admin — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 06:30:35 +0000

Parliament passed the Major Port Authorities Bill, 2020. Now the Bill will go to the President of India for his assent

The salient features of the Major Port Authorities Bill 2020 are as under:

The Bill is more compact in comparison to the Major Port Trusts Act, 1963 as the number of sections has been reduced to 76 from 134 by eliminating overlapping and obsolete Sections.
The new Bill has proposed a simplified composition of the Board of Port Authority which will comprise of 11 to 13 Members from the present 17 to 19 Members representing various interests.
The role of Tariff Authority for Major Ports (TAMP) has been redefined. Port Authority has now been given powers to fix tariff which will act as a reference tariff for purposes of bidding for PPP projects. PPP operators will be free to fix tariff- based on market conditions.
The Board of Port Authority has been delegated the power to fix the scale of rates for other port services and assets including land.
An Adjudicatory Board has been proposed to be created to carry out the residual function of the erstwhile TAMP for Major Ports, to look into disputes between ports and PPP concessionaires
The Boards of Port Authority have been delegated full powers to enter into contracts, planning and development, fixing of tariff except in national interest, security and emergency arising out of inaction and default. In the present MPT Act, 1963 prior approval of the Central Government was required in 22 instances.
The Board of each Major Port shall be entitled to create specific master plan in respect of any development or infrastructure.
Provisions of CSR & development of infrastructure by Port Authority have been introduced.
Provision has been made for safeguarding the pay & allowances and service conditions including pensionary benefits of the employees of major ports

Source : The Hindu

The Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Government of India has launched Ambedkar Social Innovation and Incubation Mission (ASIIM) under Venture Capital Fund for Scheduled Castes (VCF-SC) on 30th September 2020

About:

Objective is to boost entrepreneurship and innovation among the SC students/SC Divyang youth.
The companies/entrepreneurs owned by Scheduled Castes enrolled /registered with Technology Business Incubators (TBIs) are eligible to get maximum capital of Rs.30 lakhs over a period of 3 years i.e. Rs.10 lakhs every year.
Financial support of up to Rs.10 lakhs per year for a period of 3 years aggregating to Rs.30 Lakhs shall be provided to eligible applicants as equity funding.

Source : PIB

NITI Aayog has constituted a sub-group to prepare a National Action Plan for Migrant Workers

The sub-group comprises the members from various Ministries of Govt. of India, subject experts, NGOs and civil society organisations, to prepare a tangible action plan to address issues related to migrant workers.
In order to safeguard the interest of the migrant workers, the Central Government had enacted the Inter-state Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979.

Important Info :

OSH Code

This Act has now been subsumed in the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 and the Code has been notified on 29.09.2020.
The above mentioned code, commonly known as OSH Code, provides for decent working conditions, minimum wages, grievances redressal mechanisms, protection from abuse and exploitation, enhancement of the skills and social security to all category of organised and unorganised workers including Migrant workers.
The relevant provisions of the Code are applicable to every establishment in which 10 or more inter-state migrant workers are employed or were employed on any day of the preceding 12 months.

Source : PIB

Union Agriculture Minister graces the occasion as chief guest on World Pulses Day

The UN General Assembly in 2019 decided to dedicate a day to Pulses to increase awareness and access to pulses globally known as World Pulses Day.
The World Pulses Day falls on February 10 every year and recognised Pulses as a global food.
On World Pulses Day, people make efforts in creating awareness about the importance of Pulses in sustainable food production.
The UN General Assembly after recognizing the value of pulses in 2013, adopted 2016 as the International Year of Pulses (IYP).
World Pulses Day 2021 theme is #LovePulses.

Source : PIB

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs accorded approval to the proposal of the Department of Fertilizers for Grant-in-aid of Rs.100 crore to Brahmaputra Valley Fertilizers Corporation Limited (BVFCL), Namrup (Assam) to sustain operations of it’s urea manufacturing units

BVFCL, Namrup is a Public Sector Undertaking formed as per Companies Act, under the administrative control of the Department of Fertilizers (DoF), Government of India.
At present, the Company is operating its two vintage plants viz. Namrup-ll and Namrup-lll in the premises of BVFCL in Namrup, Assam.
The grant in aid of Rs. 100 crore to BVFCL will restore the urea production capacity of 3.90 Lac MT per annum and ensure timely availability of Urea to Tea Industry & Farming Sector in the entire North Eastern region specially Assam.

Source : PIB

Days After the Centre asked Twitter to “suspend or block” nearly 1,200 accounts, citing “misinformation and provocative content” on the farmers’ protest, several ministers and departments of the Union government have started flocking on Koo App — a homemade version of the social networking platform

The microblogging site was co-founded by entrepreneurs Aprameya Radhakrishna and Mayank Bidwatka. Radhakrishna had founded online cab booking service TaxiForSure, which was subsequently sold to Ola Cabs.
While the app was launched in early 2020, its participation and the subsequent winning of the government’s Atmanirbhar App Innovation Challenge brought it under the limelight.
The app, along with other India-made apps like Zoho and Chingari — the local version of TikTok, won the challenge, which was launched by the Centre close on the heels of banning scores of apps with Chinese links citing national security concerns.
Following the outcome of the Atmanirbhar App Innovation Challenge, the app was also mentioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Mann Ki Baat address.

Source : Indian Express

The United Arab Emirates’ first mission to Mars entered the orbit of the red planet, seven months after the Emirati-built ‘Hope Probe’ was launched from Tanegashima in Japan

With this, the UAE has become the fifth country after the US, Russia, China, the EU, and India, to reach the Martian orbit.
The unmanned spacecraft is called ‘Al-Amal’ — the Arabic word for hope. The historic event was timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the unification of the UAE’s seven emirates.
First announced in July 2014, the Emirates Mars Mission was developed and operated by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre in collaboration with the University California, Berkeley, Arizona State University and the University of Colorado-Boulder in the United States.
In July 2020, it was launched from the Tanegashima Space Centre in Japan aboard a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ H-II A rocket.
Carrying three instruments, including a high-resolution camera and a spectrometer, the spacecraft is on an orbital mission to collect data on Martian climate dynamics and help scientists understand why Mars’s atmosphere is decaying into space.
Hope is the UAE’s fourth space mission and first interplanetary one. The previous three were all Earth-observation satellites.
Its overall mission life is one Martian year, which is about 687 days on Earth.

Source : Indian Express

The Union Budget has announced the privatisation of two public sector banks (in addition to IDBI Bank) and one general insurance company in the upcoming fiscal

It also announced a strategic sale/disinvestment policy for four strategic sectors — including banking, insurance and financial services — in which it will have a “bare minimum presence”.
In 2015, the government had suggested privatisation but the then RBI Governor did not favour the idea.

Important Info :

Arguments sighted for privatisation

Years of capital injections and governance reforms have not been able to improve the financial position of in public sector banks significantly.
Many of them have higher levels of stressed assets than private banks, and also lag the latter on profitability, market capitalisation and dividend payment record.
The government front-loaded Rs 70,000 crore into government-run banks in September 2019, Rs 80,000 crore in in FY18, and Rs 1.06 lakh crore in FY19 through recapitalisation bonds.
In 2019, the government merged ten PSU banks into four.
private banks’ market share in loans has risen to 36% in 2020 from 21.26% in 2015, while public sector banks’ share has fallen to 59.8% from 74.28%.

Source : Indian Express

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will visit Assam and West Bengal, where he will address a community vital to upcoming Assembly elections in both states — the Koch Rajbongshis

They are a community that traces its roots to the Kamata kingdom, which comprised parts of Assam, West Bengal and adjoining territories.
In the medieval period, the community was dominant and ruled their territory of Kamatapur, which comprised a large part of Bangladesh, West Bengal, Bihar and India’s north-east.
After Independence, the princely state of Cooch Behar became part of West Bengal.
Today, Koch Rajbongshis are found in Assam, Meghalaya, West Bengal and Bihar, and in Bangladesh, Nepal and some parts of Bhutan.
They are estimated to number over 33 lakh in West Bengal, mostly the northern districts, and have a large presence in Assam.

Source : Indian Express

Capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) imposed a penalty of Rs 1 crore on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in connection with its three-year investigation in the co-location case

The NSE is facing allegations that some brokers got preferential access through the co-location facility at the stock exchange, early login, and ‘dark fiber’, which can allow a trader a split-second faster access to the data feed of an exchange.
Even this infinitesimally sooner access is considered to result in huge gains for a trader.
Few brokers were able to log into the NSE systems with better hardware specifications while engaged in algorithmic trading, which allowed them unfair access and advantage.
The unfair access issue pertains to 2012-14 when NSE used to disseminate price information through a unicast system. In such a system information is disseminated to one member after another.

Source : Indian Express

World Unani Day was celebrated on February 11, 2021 to spread awareness about health care delivery through Unani system of medicine through its preventive and curative philosophy

World Unani Day is celebrated every year to mark the birth anniversary of Hakim Ajmal Khan.
He was an eminent Indian Unani physician who was a versatile genius, a great scholar, a social reformer, a noted freedom fighter, a Unani medical educationist and founder of scientific research in Unani System of Medicine.
He was one of the founders of the Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi.

Important Info :

Principles of Unani System: The Unani system postulates the presence of four humours in the body: dam (blood), balgham (phlegm), safra (yellow bile) and sauda (black bile), a parallel to kapha, vata and pitta, the three doshas in ayurveda. The quality and quantity of four humors affect the state of health and disease in the body.
Origin: Unani system originated in Greece. The theoretical framework of Unani medicine is based on the work of Hippocrates (460-377 BC).
Role of Arabs: The system owes its present form to the Arabs who not only saved much of the Greek literature by rendering it into Arabic but also enriched it with their own contributions.
Indian scenario: In India, it was introduced by Arabs and Persians sometime around the eleventh century.
Revival by Hakim Ajmal Khan: It saw the beginning of its revival during the freedom struggle due to the efforts of Hakim Ajmal Khan. He established Ayurvedic and Unani Tibbia College and Hindustani Dawakhana a pharmaceutical company for manufacturing of Ayurvedic and Unani medicine in Delhi in 1916.

Source : PIB

Prime Minister Modi initiated a scheme for development of commercial organic farming in the region during 2015 which later became to be known as “Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Region” (MOVCDNER)

The scheme started with an average annual allocation of Rs. 134 crore during last five years has so far covered 74,880 ha area.
To double the impact the allocation has now increased to Rs. 200 crore per year with a target to cover additional 1.00 lakh ha area under 200 new FPOs over a period of 3 year period.
The scheme besides growing and value adding the traditional crops is also aiming to bring in high-value crops under contract farming models.
Transformation of farmer clusters into Farmer Producer Companies (FPCs) ensures emergence of new breed of organic agri-enterprises.

Source : PIB

Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC) has launched a Seaweed Mission for commercial farming of seaweeds and its processing for value addition towards boosting national economy

The Mission envisages the following activities:

Establishing model demonstration farms over one hectare for cultivation of economically important seaweeds in nearshore and onshore along the Indian coast
Establishment of seaweed nurseries for supplying seed material for large scale farming of economically important seaweeds in the country
Onshore cultivation for (i) Seedling supply facility (ii) Seaweed cultivation for processing
Setting up of processing plant for integrated production of plant growth stimulants (sap) along with industrially important cell wall polysaccharides (phycocolloids) such as agar, agarose, carrageenan and alginates from fresh seaweeds

Important Info :

Background:

Out of the global seaweed production of ~ 32 million tons fresh weight valued around 12 billion US dollars.
China produces ~57 %, Indonesia ~28% followed by South Korea, whereas India is having a mere share of ~0.01-0.02%.
Despite several advantages, commercial seaweeds cultivation has not been taken place in the country at an appropriate scale, as being practiced in South-East Asian countries.
By an estimate, if cultivation is done in ≈10 million hectares or 5% of the EEZ area of India, it can provide employment to ~ 50 million people; set up new seaweed industry; contribute to national GDP; ocean productivity; abates algal blooms, sequesters millions of tons CO2; Healthier ocean; bio-ethanol of 6.6 billion litres.

Source : PIB

Week 05 – 2020 UPSC Current Affairs Vignan IAS Academy

admin — Sat, 30 Jan 2021 02:32:26 +0000

On Republic Day, the Prison Department of Maharashtra launched its jail tourism initiative starting with more than 150-year-old Yerawada Central Prison in Pune

Constructed in 1866, Yerawada Central Prison is the largest jail in Maharashtra and one of the largest maximum security prisons in the country.
In Maharashtra, there are 16 functioning prisons that were built in the 19th century, the oldest being Byculla District Prison in Mumbai which started in 1840.

Important Info :

Historical significance

Many leaders of the Indian independence movement were incarcerated in this prison.
Mahatma Gandhi was imprisoned at Yerawada jail three times — from March 1922 to February 1924, from January 1932 to May 1933, and for three days in August 1933.
The cell where Mahatma Gandhi was lodged is called the Gandhi Yard, which is also the place where the historic Poona Pact between Gandhi and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar was signed.

Source : Indian Express

There are dozens of ways to pick stocks, but few have been as unconventional — or as successful — as the coordinated short-squeeze being deployed by Reddit’s army of day traders. Now, Wall Street is scanning the matter

Short squeeze is a term used by market participants to refer to a phenomenon where short sellers in a stock who have placed their bets on a stock’s fall, rush to hedge their positions or buy the stock in the event of an adverse price movement, in order to cover their losses.
This leads to a sharp rise in demand for the share, and huge rally in share prices.
In order to cover his loss, the trader who was initially short on the stock, starts buying the stock, which leads to a sharp rise in the share price of the stock.
This phenomenon, where the short seller is buying the stock to cover her loss, is referred to as short squeeze in market parlance.
It leads to a dramatic rise in share price, far beyond its fundamentals.

Source : Indian Express

A former Israeli fighter pilot, an American technology entrepreneur and a Canadian investor will be part of the crew of the first entirely-private orbital space mission

The three men are paying $55 million each to fly aboard a SpaceX rocket for an eight-day visit to the International Space Station, organised by Houston-based spaceflight firm Axiom.
The Axiom Mission 1 (AX 1) flight is being arranged under a commercial agreement with NASA.
The mission will be led by former NASA astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria, who now works for Axiom space.
While private citizens have travelled to space before, the AX 1 mission will be the first to use a commercially built spacecraft, the SpaceX Dragon 2, best known for flying its first two crews to the ISS late last year.

Important Info :

Is this the first time civilians have been launched into space?

No, private civilians have travelled to the space station before.
Since 2001, Russia has been selling rides to the ISS to wealthy businessmen around the world. They travelled onboard the Russian Soyuz aircraft along with professional cosmonauts and NASA astronauts.

Source : Indian express

Twenty five years before the Jallianwallah Bagh massacre, more than a hundred peasants fell to the bullets of the British on January 28, 1894 in Patharughat, a small village in Assam’s Darrang district

The unarmed peasants were protesting against the increase in land revenue levied by the colonial administration, when the military opened fire.
On January 28, 1894, many local peasants gathered in a protest meeting at Patharughat (also known as Patharighat), condemning the increasing land tax levied by the British.
As a result, a rebellion brewed in the hearts of the peasants against the British.
After much discussion amongst themselves, it was decided that no taxes would be paid to the British, until a proper solution was found to the problem. They were even willing to revolt against the British for the cause.
While the protest meeting was going on, Deputy Commissioner of Darrang district, JD Anderson, Mr Barrington, SP and Mr Remington, SDO, arrived at the venue along with full police force.
On the orders of Barrington, the police opened fire on the gathering present there. hundreds of people were injured and around 140 of them were killed on spot.
Every year on January 28, the government and local people pay respects to the martyrs of the incident (Krishak Swahid Diwas).

Source : Indian Express

Union Minister of Youth Affairs & Sports launched a breakthrough Reference Material for use in chemical testing in the field of anti-doping synthesized by collaborative efforts of National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL) and National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Guwahati

This Reference Material (RM), has been identified by NDTL as one of the rarely available RMs globally and would be used to strengthen anti-doping measures in all World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)-accredited laboratories.
The MoU between NDTL and NIPER Guwahati was signed in August 2020 which proposes to synthesize 20 rarely available Reference Materials (RMs) during a period of 3 years.
The availability of these RMs would help the anti-doping laboratories to strengthen their testing capacity. This will help in the greater cause of promoting fair play in sports.

Important Info :

National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL) is an autonomous body under Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India. It is based in Delhi.
It is the only laboratory in the country responsible for human sports dope testing.

Source : The Hindu

Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare addressed the event on Restoring Cross Border Mobility by World Economic Forum’s Common Trust Network through Video Conference

Background: As countries around the world work to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic and restart their economies, they all face the challenge of how to reopen their borders and allow travel and commerce to resume while protecting their populations’ health.
To address this challenge, The Commons Project Foundation and the World Economic Forum have launched the Common Trust Network in collaboration with a broad voluntary network of public and private stakeholders.
The Common Trust Network is designed to
- empower individuals with digital access to their health information,
- make it easier for individuals to understand and comply with each destination’s requirements, and
- help ensure that only verifiable lab results and vaccination records from trusted sources are presented for the purposes of cross-border travel and commerce.
The Common Trust Registry: The Common Trust Network is enabled by a global registry of trusted laboratory and vaccination data sources, standard formats for lab results and vaccination records, and standard tools to make those results and records digitally accessible.

Source : PIB

January 30, 2021 will mark the second annual World Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) Day, highlighting the global community’s commitment to ending Neglected Tropical Diseases

On World NTD Day, on 30th January 2021, more than 50 landmarks representing 25 nations across the world will be lit up to celebrate how far we have come together in beating NTDs. India too will proudly join these countries, by illuminating UNESCO world heritage site Qutub Minar.
Background: Originally announced by the Crown Prince Court of Abu Dhabi at the 2019 Reaching the Last Mile Forum, hundreds of partners signed up to mark World NTD Day and demand action to Face NTDs and End The Neglect.

Important Info :

Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a diverse group of tropical infections which are common in low-income populations in developing regions of Africa, Asia, and the Americas.
They are caused by a variety of pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, protozoa and parasitic worms (helminths).
They include dengue, rabies, blinding trachoma, Buruli ulcer, endemic treponematoses (yaws), leprosy (Hansen disease) etc.
These diseases are contrasted with the big three infectious diseases (HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria), which generally receive greater treatment and research funding.
1 in 5 people around the world are affected by NTDs. India is home to the world’s largest absolute burden of at least 11 of these major neglected tropical diseases.

Source : Outlook

Union Minister for Environment and French Minister for Ecological Transition launched the Indo-French Year of the Environment

The basic objective is to strengthen Indo-French cooperation in sustainable development, increase the effectiveness of actions in favour of global environment protection and give them greater visibility.
The Indo-French Year of the Environment over the period 2021-2022 would be based on five main themes: environmental protection, climate change, biodiversity conservation, sustainable urban development, and the development of renewable energies and energy efficiency.
It is also a platform for engaging in discussions on critical areas of collaboration relating to environment and allied areas.
From the Indian side, it will be coordinated by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) along with the Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and other concerned Ministries/Departments/Organisations.
A joint screening committee will also be set up to finalise the calendar of the events for the Indo-French Year of the Environment.

Important Info :

India-France alliance is the main pillar of the International Solar Alliance launched by PM Narendra Modi.

Source : PIB

The Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has released ‘Marine Mega Fauna Stranding Guidelines’ and ‘National Marine Turtle Action Plan’

The documents contains ways and means to guide improved coordination amongst the government, civil society and all relevant stakeholders on the response to cases of stranding, entanglement, injury or mortality of marine mammals and also conservation of marine turtles.
These two documents highlight
- actions to be taken for handling stranded animals on shore, stranded or entangled animals in the sea or on a boat,
- management actions for improved coordination,
- reducing threats to marine species and their habitats,
- rehabilitation of degraded habitats,
- enhancing people’s participation,
- advance scientific research and exchange of information on marine mammals and marine turtles and their habitats.

Source : DD News

Union Education Minister addressed the Valedictory Function of Kala Utsav 2020

Background: Kala Utsav National Competition was launched in 2015.
Objective: To promote arts in education by nurturing and show casing the artistic talents of school students. Children with special needs too will have the opportunity to display their talents.
Agencies involved: Kala Utsav is an initiative of the Department of School Education and Literacy of the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD).
Kala Utsav 2020 was launched online on 10 January 2021 through a digital platform. The Indigenous Toys and Games segment was introduced in Kala Utsav 2020.

Source : PIB

Asaddudin Owaisi, president of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM), and CPI leader Binoy Viswam have filed dissent notes to the parliamentary standing committee’s report on the DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2019 on the grounds that it does not take into account their concerns over privacy violations

The Bill proposes DNA sampling and profiling of citizens accused of crime or reported missing, and storing their unique genetic information for administrative purposes.
The objective of the Bill is limited to the establishment of a regulatory board to regulate the use of DNA technology in consonance with international standards.

Important Info :

Arguments against

They say if enacted, the Bill will target Dalits, Muslims and Adivasis by way of DNA sample collection and indefinite storage.
The fear is that the law could be used for caste or community-based profiling.
The Bill ran afoul with the standards set in the Puttaswamy and Subramanian Swamy judgments of the Supreme Court.
In the absence of a statutory framework protecting the right to privacy, this Bill will cause irreversible damage to individuals’ right to privacy as well as the criminal justice system.

Source : The Hindu

The Supreme Court appointed conservationist Nandita Hazarika as Member of a Technical Committee constituted by it on October 14 last year to hear complaints by land owners against the action taken by the Nilgris Collector, which included “arbitrary variance in acreage of the elephant corridor.”

On October 14, the top court upheld the Tamil Nadu government’s authority to notify an ‘elephant corridor’ and protect the migratory path of the animals through the Nilgiri biosphere reserve, the largest protected forest area in India, spanning across Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala.
The corridor is situated in the ecologically fragile Sigur plateau.

Important Info :

Sigur Plateau is a plateau in the north and east of Nilgiri District in the Nilgiri Hills of Tamil Nadu.
It connects the Western and the Eastern Ghats and sustains elephant populations and their genetic diversity.
It has the Nilgiri Hills on its southwestern side and the Moyar River Valley on its north-eastern side. The elephants cross the plateau in search of food and water.

Source : The Hindu

Maharashtra Chief Minister said the disputed border area between Maharashtra and Karnataka should be made an Union Territory until the matter is heard by the Supreme Court. This sparked off a strong reaction in Karnataka

Maharashtra has been claiming that Belagavi, Karwar and Nipani should be the part of that State as they are Marathi-speaking areas.
The erstwhile Bombay Presidency, a multilingual province, included the present-day Karnataka districts of Bijapur, Belgaum, Dharwar and Uttara-Kannada (previously North Kanara).
The Belagavi/Belgaum region at the border of Maharashtra and Karnataka comprises both Kannada and Marathi speakers.
In 1948, the Belgaum municipality requested that the district, having a predominantly Marathi-speaking population, be incorporated into the proposed Maharashtra state.
However, the States Reorganisation Act of 1956, which divided states on linguistic and administrative lines, made Belgaum a part of the then Mysore State (which was renamed Karnataka in 1973).
The area has been under dispute since then. The Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti, formed in 1948, has been fighting for a merger of 800-odd villages in Karnataka with Maharashtra.
In 2014, the Karnataka government renamed Belgaum as Belagavi.

Source : The Hindu

A formal MoU signing ceremony was held between Textiles Committee, Ministry of Textiles, Government of India and M/s. Nissenken Quality Evaluation Centre Japan

The objective of the MoU is to provide required support to textile’s trade and industry for ensuring quality as per the requirement of Japanese buyers through Testing, Inspection & Conformity Assessment.
It is expected that the MoU will strengthen the bilateral trade by enhancing India’s export of Textile and Apparels (T&A) to Japan, which is the third largest export destination of the world.

Important Info :

About Textiles Committee:

The Textiles Committee was established in the year 1963 by an Act of Parliament.
It is a statutory body under the Ministry of Textiles to ensure quality of all textiles and textile products for domestic and export markets.
The Textiles Committee is the only body providing for all the quality related needs of the entire Textiles Value Chain (TVC) in an integrated format on a pan-India basis.

Source : PIB

The Framework for Strategic Partnership between the International Energy Agency (IEA) members and the Government of India was signed

It aims to strengthen mutual trust and cooperation & enhance global energy security, stability and sustainability. This partnership will lead to an extensive exchange of knowledge and would be a stepping stone towards India becoming a full member of the IEA.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) is a Paris-based autonomous intergovernmental organisation.
It was established in the framework of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1974 in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis.
The IEA is made up of 30 member countries.
In addition, the IEA family also includes eight association countries which includes Brazil, China and India.
Three countries are seeking accession to full membership, Chile, Israel and Lithuania.

Source : PIB

Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare addressed the 4th edition of the Future Investment Initiative Forum, through Video Conference

The Future Investment Initiative (FII) is an annual investment forum held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to discuss trends in the world economy and investment environment.
It is hosted by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF).
The first event was in October 2017.
The purpose of this year’s forum was to find solutions on how business and government can expand access to healthcare, train healthcare workers, remove regulatory barriers and encourage investment in advanced health technologies.

Source : PIB

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) observed the International Customs Day, 2021

The theme for this year as given by World Customs Organisation (WCO) is “Customs bolstering Recovery, Renewal and Resilience for a sustainable supply chain”.
January 26 is celebrated as the International Customs Day (ICD). It is the day designated to honour the custom officials and agencies for their function in taking care of the flow of goods across the world borders.

Important Info :

Background: World Customs Organization (WCO)

It was on January 26, 1953 that the Customs Cooperation Council (CCC) had held its inaugural session in Brussels which was attended by representatives from 17 European countries.
International Customs Day was created by CCC in 1983. In 1994, CCC was renamed as World Customs Organization (WCO).
WCO is the only international body looking after international customs and matters concerning border control.
WCO has head-quarter in Brussels, Belgium.
WCO currently has custom organizations from 182 countries as its members.
More than 98% of world trade is administered by WCO.

Source : PIB

National Informatics Centre services Incorporated (NICSI) will celebrate 25 years of its establishment here on 28 January 2021

National Informatics Centre services Incorporated (NICSI) is a Public Sector Enterprise under National Informatics Centre(NIC), Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India.
NICSI started its journey in the ICT service industry on 29th August 1995.
Providing end-to-end IT solutions for e-governance projects for Central and State Governments and other PSUs across India, NICSI extends its services to the International level too in certain projects.

Important Info :

On the occasion, The Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology will launch:

Tejas – a Virtual Intelligence tool (NIC&NICSI-CEDA) that extracts critical information from data to make its meaningful information for policy decisions and improving efficiency in government services and citizen delivery;
e-Auction India – to cater to electronic forward and reverse auction requirements of the Govt. organisations serving online 24×7;
Work from Anywhere Portal – a virtual environment, provisioned shall empower employees access routine applications like eoffice, calendar, mail, and other departmental applications and communicate across through Video Conferencing;
NIC Products Portfolio for International Offering to augment Digital India branding through promotion of productized software applications at global level.

Source : PIB

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has given its approval for the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of copra for 2021 season

Copra is the dried meat or kernel of the coconut, which is the fruit of the coconut palm (Cocos nucifera). Coconut oil is extracted from copra, making it an important agricultural commodity for many coconut-producing countries.
The MSP for Fair Average Quality (FAQ) of milling copra has been increased, by Rs.375/-, to Rs. 10335/- per quintal for 2021 season from Rs. 9960/- per quintal in 2020.
The approval is based on recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).
The increase in MSP for copra for 2021 season is in line with the principle of fixing the MSP at a level of at least 1.5 times the all India weighted average cost of production which was announced by the Government in the Budget 2018-19.
The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Limited (NAFED) and National Cooperative Consumer Federation of India Limited (NCCF) will continue to act as Central Nodal Agencies to undertake price support operations at the MSP in the coconut growing States.

Source : PIB

Prime Minister Modi will address the World Economic Forum’s Davos Dialogue on 28th January, 2021 via video conferencing

The Davos Dialogues agenda marks the launch of the World Economic Forum’s Great Reset Initiative in the post COVID world.
The World Economic Forum (WEF), based in Cologny-Geneva, Switzerland, is an NGO, founded in 1971. The WEF hosts an annual meeting at the end of January in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland.

Source : PIB

Bharat Parv 2021, a festival to celebrate the spirit of India has begun. The festival is being organised on a virtual platform www.bharatparv2021.com this year from 26th of January till 31st of January

Background: Bharat Parv is being celebrated as part of Republic Day celebrations since 2016.
Objective: To generate a patriotic fervour, promote the rich cultural diversity of the country and to popularize the idea of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat.
Organized by: The Ministry of Tourism in collaboration with other central Ministries.
Duration: 26th to 31st January 2021 (The 5-day event is a part of Republic Day Celebrations).

Source : All India Radio

The Dhannipur mosque project was formally launched on Republic Day at the five-acre plot in Dhannipur village of Ayodhya Uttar Pradesh

The plot was allotted by the Uttar Pradesh government on the directions of the Supreme Court in the Babri Masjid Ram Janmabhoomi title suit.
The Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation (IICF) is overseeing the construction of the mosque.
The project would take around 30 months to be completed.
The project comprises three parts: a mosque based on a modern design; a multi-speciality 200-bed hospital and community kitchen; and an Indo-Islamic Cultural Research Centre.

Source : The Hindu

A statue of freedom fighter Govind Ballabh Pant that was removed from the Parliament premises recently would be unveiled at its new location, a roundabout opposite Gurdwara Rakab Ganj on Pandit Pant Marg in Delhi

Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant (1887 – 1961) was a lawyer, an Indian freedom fighter and one of the architects of modern India.
In 1921, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh.
He was an untiring participant in both the Non-Cooperation Movement and the Civil Disobedience Movement.
He was also a member of the Central Legislative Assembly and the Constituent Assembly.
He served as the 2nd Chief Minister of United Provinces from 1937 to 1939.
After independence, he served as the 1st Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh from 1950 to 1954.
He served as Union Home Minister from 1955–1961.
As Home Minister, his chief achievement was the re-organisation of States along linguistic lines.
He was also responsible for the establishment of Hindi as an official language of the central government and a few states.
To honour his exemplary services to the nation, he received Bharat Ratna, in 1957.

Source : The Hindu

Data privacy can take the form of non-price competition and abuse of dominance can lower privacy protection, a study by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has said

CCI noted that an aspect of data in the context of competition in digital communications market is the conflict between allowing access and protecting consumer privacy.
Privacy can take the form of non-price competition. Abuse of dominance can take the form of lowering the privacy protection and therefore fall within the ambit of antitrust as low privacy standard implies lack of consumer welfare.
The study also made observations about other non-price factors such as quality of service (QoS), data speeds and bundled offerings, which are likely to be the new drivers of competitive rivalry between service providers in telecom sector in addition to just price.

Important Info :

Competition Commission of India is a statutory body of the Government of India responsible for enforcing The Competition Act, 2002.
It was established in 2003 and became fully functional in 2009 with Dhanendra Kumar as its first Chairman.

Source : The Hindu

India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador T.S. Tirumurti, said that It has been nearly 13 years since the Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) started. The UN Security Council is finding itself unable to act effectively to address issues of international peace and security as it lacked inclusivity

The Intergovernmental Negotiations framework (IGN) is a group of nation-states working within the United Nations to further reform of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), 15-member top organ of the world body.
Composition: The IGN is composed of several different international organizations, namely:
- The African Union;
- The G4 nations (India, along with Brazil, Japan and Germany are pressing for a permanent seat in the reformed UNSC);
- The Uniting for Consensus Group (UfC), also known as the “Coffee Club”;
- The L.69 Group of Developing Countries;
- The Arab League; and
- The Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
Each group represents a different set of positions vis-a-vis reforming the United Nations Security Council.
In 2016, an “oral decision” was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly which approved of a declaration known as the “elements of convergence” which outlined the status of the consensus reached by the members of the IGN at that time.

Source : The Hindu

U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration announced it was restoring relations with the Palestinians and renewing aid to Palestinian refugees

It is a reversal of the Donald Trump administration’s cutoff and a key element of its new support for a two-state solution to the decades-old conflict agreed to by Israelis and Palestinians.
Palestine is recognized officially as the State of Palestine by the United Nations and other entities.
It is a de jure sovereign state in Western Asia claiming the West Bank (bordering Israel and Jordan) and Gaza Strip (bordering Israel and Egypt) with Jerusalem as the designated capital, although its administrative center is currently located in Ramallah.
The entirety of territory claimed by the State of Palestine has been occupied since 1948, first by Egypt and Jordan and then by Israel after the Six-Day War in 1967.

Source : The Hindu

President of India has approved awards of 455 Gallantry and other Defence decorations to Armed Forces personnel and others. Colonel B Santosh Babu, the Commanding Officer of 16 Bihar Regiment, who lost his life during the Galwan Valley clash last year, will be posthumously awarded with Maha Vir Chakra

Announcement: These gallantry awards are announced twice in a year – first on the occasion of the Republic Day and then on the occasion of the Independence Day.
Order of precedence of these awards is the Param Vir Chakra, the Ashoka Chakra, the Mahavir Chakra, the Kirti Chakra, the Vir Chakra and the Shaurya Chakra.

Important Info :

Background:

Three gallantry awards namely Param Vir Chakra, Maha Vir Chakra and Vir Chakra were instituted by the Government of India on 26th January, 1950.
Thereafter, other three gallantry awards i.e. the Ashoka Chakra Class-I, the Ashoka Chakra Class-II and the Ashoka Chakra Class-III were instituted in 1952. These awards were renamed as Ashoka Chakra, Kirti Chakra and Shaurya Chakra respectively in 1967.

Source : All India Radio

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