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Thursday, January 14, 2021
GS Score Weekly Current Affairs January 2021 Week 02 PDF
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GS Score Weekly Current Affairs January 2021 Week 02 PDF
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Wednesday, January 13, 2021
Daily Current Affairs, 13th January 2021
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1) Bharat Biotech inks pact with Precisa Med to supply Covaxin to Brazil
•Bharat Biotech has announced that it has signed an agreement with Precisa Medicamentos for the supply of its indigenously manufactured Covid-19 vaccine ‘Covaxin’ to Brazil. The supplies of Covaxin will be prioritized for the public market, through direct procurement by Brazil government.
•A team from Precisa Medicamentos had visited the Bharat Biotech facility in Genome Valley near here last week to discuss export of COVAXIN, India’s first indigenous vaccine for Covid-19.
2) India Ranks 85 in Henley Passport Index 2021
•The Henley Passport Index 2021 has been released by Henley & Partners, based on the exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). As per the latest report, India has been ranked 85th among 110 countries, in the Henley Passport Index for 2021, with a visa-free score of 58. The index presents the original ranking of the world’s most powerful passports, according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa.
•Japan has once again topped the list of being the most powerful passport in the world, for the third consecutive year. Japanese citizens can travel to as many as 191 countries visa-free. Singapore is in second place (190) and South Korea ties with Germany in third place (189). Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan are the countries with the worst passport, with a passport score of 29, 28 and 26 respectively.
3) India’s retail inflation drops to 4.59 % in December
•India’s retail inflation fell sharply to 4.59 per cent in December, mainly due to declining food prices, government data showed. Retail inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 6.93 per cent in November.
•Food inflation declined to 3.41 per cent in December in 2020, compared to 9.5 per cent in the previous month, according to the data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) factors in retail inflation while arriving at its monetary policy.
4) Manipur: CM Biren Singh virtually inaugurated Cherry Blossom Festival
•The 4th edition of the Cherry Blossom Festival, Mao in Manipur was virtually inaugurated by Chief Minister N Biren Singh. However this year, the authority decided to scale down the festival due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Festival featured the picturesque landscape of Mao adorned with beautiful cherry trees laden with blooming flowers which have traditionally attracted visitors from across the world.
5) RBI cancels the licence of Vasantdada Nagari Sahakari Bank
•The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cancelled the licence of Maharashtra-based Vasantdada Nagari Sahakari Bank, with immediate effect. Vasantdada Nagari Sahakari Bank Ltd will now not be allowed to conduct the business of ‘banking’, including acceptance of deposits and repayment of deposits, with effect from the close of business on January 11, 2021.
•RBI has requested the Commissioner for Cooperation and Registrar of Cooperative Societies (RCS), Maharashtra to issue an order for winding up the bank and appoint a liquidator for the bank.
Reason of Cancellation:
•The Bank has failed to comply with the requirements of Section 11(1) read with Section 56 of BR Act and thus would be unable to pay its present depositors in full in its current financial position.
Consumer interest protected:
•With the cancellation of licence and commencement of liquidation proceedings, the process of paying the depositors of Vasantdada Nagari Sahakari Bank Ltd., Osmanabad, Maharashtra as per the DICGC Act, 1961 will be set in motion. Every depositor is entitled to repayment of his/her deposits up to Rs 5,00,000 from the DICGC. More than 99% of the depositors of the bank will get full repayment of their deposits from DICGC.
6) France hosts 4th One Planet Summit
•The Government of France organised the fourth ‘One Planet Summit’, through videoconferencing, which aimed at protecting the world’s biodiversity. The Summit was organised in cooperation with the United Nations and the World Bank. The theme of the Summit was “Let’s act together for nature!”
•It was inaugurated by the Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres, French President Emmanuel Macron, and President of the World Bank Group David Malpass.
The Summit focused on biodiversity preservation through:
•The protection of terrestrial and marine ecosystems,
•The promotion of agroecology,
•The mobilization of funding for biodiversity, and
•The link between deforestation, species and human health.
7) Dr Ajay Kumar co-chairs 13th India-Vietnam Defence Security Dialogue
•The 13th India-Vietnam Defence Security Dialogue was held in a virtual format. The virtual event was co-chaired by Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar along with Vietnamese Sr Lt Gen Nguyen Chi Vinh, Deputy Defence Minister, Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
8) First ever Ice climbing festival celebrated in Nubra valley
•In Leh, the first-ever Ice climbing festival was celebrated in Nubra valley. The Seven Day event was organized by Nubra Adventure Club. Ice climbing is a popular winter sport abroad. To promote winter tourism in Nubra valley, Nubra Adventure Club, with the help of Social activist Dr Nordan Otzer, has organized the Seven Day Ice Climbing Festival. Trainer Rigzin Tsewang said that Nubra has the potential to be the ice climbing capital in the Himalayas.
•18 participants across Nubra valley including 4 women have taken part in Ice climbing. All were trained in basic ice climbing skills during the festival at three locations, Pudong Cake at Panamik, Artificial Glacier at Ayee Village and first ascent at ” Nubra Adventure Club Crag” located near Warshi Village. Three trainers Rigzin tsewang, Tsewang Namgyal and Kran Kowshik imparted ice climbing skills. Participants were awarded certificates as well.
9) RBI slaps Rs 2 crore fine on Deutsche Bank for non-compliance
•The Reserve Bank of India has imposed a penalty of Rs 2 crore on Deutsche Bank AG for non-compliance with certain provisions of directions concerning interest rate on deposits. The central bank said the statutory inspection of Deutsche Bank’s financial position as on March 31, 2019, and the Risk Assessment Report revealed non-compliance with the ‘Reserve Bank of India (Interest Rate on Deposits) Directions, 2016’.
•The action was based on the deficiencies in regulatory compliance and was not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers.
10) A book titled “The Population Myth: Islam, Family Planning and Politics in India” by Ex-CEC
•Former chief election commissioner (CEC) S Y Quraishi has come out with his book titled “The Population Myth: Islam, Family Planning and Politics in India”. The book will hit the stands on February 15, 2021. It has been published by HarperCollins India.
The HINDU Notes – 13th January 2021
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📰 Supreme Court stays implementation of 3 controversial farm laws
Court forms expert panel to hear apprehensions raised by farmers against the laws
•The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the implementation of three controversial farm laws, calling its order “extraordinary” and a “victory for fair play”.
•The laws are: The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act and The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act.
•The stay on their implementation means the Centre cannot, for the time being, proceed with any executive actions to enforce the laws.
•The court formed a four-member committee of experts “to listen to the grievances of the farmers on the farm laws and the views of the government and make recommendations”.
•At one point in the 11-page order, a three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sharad A. Bobde said the formation of an expert committee “may create a congenial atmosphere and improve the trust and confidence of the farmers”.
•The stay, the court said, “may assuage the hurt feelings of the farmers” and make them confident enough to scythe their way to the negotiating table in good faith.
•In a concluding paragraph of the order, the court said the farmers’ bodies would “perceive” the “extraordinary” stay as an achievement of their peaceful protest “at least for the present”. It may convince these organisations to “encourage” their members to go home to their livelihoods, and thus, protect their lives and health and that of others too.
•The court said several rounds of negotiations between the Centre and farmers had produced no results, even as senior citizens, women and children among the protesters were exposed to serious health hazards posed by the cold and COVID-19. It noted that deaths, not due to violence, but either of illness or by way of suicide, had occurred already. The court lauded the peaceful nature of the protests and stated that it did not want to stifle it.
•However, it noted Attorney General K.K. Venugopal’s “support” of a “specific averment” by the Indian Kisan Union that an organisation, Sikhs for Justice, banned for anti-India secessionist movement, is financing the agitation.
Reports of ‘Khalistanis’
•In his turn, Mr. Venugopal orally remarked in the hearing that there were reports that “Khalistanis” had infiltrated the protests.
•The hearing on Tuesday took place in the absence of four senior lawyers, including senior advocate Dushyant Dave and advocate Prashant Bhushan, who had said they represent a bulk of the protesting farmers’ organisations.
•The four had on Monday sought time to consult their clients and get back the next day with their views on the court’s proposal to form an expert committee. Late Monday night, certain farmers’ bodies issued a statement declining to go before any such committee.
•Senior advocate Harish Salve, who appeared for a party supporting the farm laws, said the four lawyers did not log into the virtual hearing on Tuesday.
•Chief Justice Bobde was, however, unperturbed by either the lawyers’ absence or statement by farmers on Monday night.
•“There are as many opinions here as there are farmers. Let the organisations talk to the committee. You can either resolve the problem or you can agitate indefinitely without any purpose,” he said.
•The court order made it clear that farmers’ bodies “shall” participate in the discussions of the committee.
•“The representatives of all the farmers’ bodies, whether they are holding a protest or not and whether they support or oppose the laws shall participate in the deliberations of the committee and put forth their view points,” it directed.
Committee members
•The committee consists of Bhupinder Singh Mann, National President, Bhartiya Kisan Union and All India Kisan Coordination Committee; Dr. Parmod Kumar Joshi, agricultural economist, Director for South Asia, International Food Policy Research Institute; Ashok Gulati, agricultural economist and former chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices; and Anil Ghanwat, President, Shetkari Sanghatana.
•The order explained that both the government and farmers should take the court’s effort to form a committee in the “right spirit” and consider it an attempt to reach a “fair, equitable and just solution to problems”.
•“There is no power on earth which can prevent us from forming the independent committee. We want to solve the problem. We want to understand the ground situation. This is not politics. You have to cooperate,” Chief Justice Bobde told the farmers’ side during the hearing.
•He said the implementation of the laws have been stayed to facilitate negotiations with the committee.
•“This is not an empty suspension of the laws... All people who want to genuinely resolve the problem should go to the committee... We are willing to suspend the law, but not indefinitely and without any activity on the ground. We don't want inactivity. We want to hear you tell the committee which part of the law needs to be changed, etc. You can go one by one and tell the committee what your problems are,” he stated.
•The committee has to start work in 10 days and submit a report to the court in two months. The government would take care of their expenses.
•The court directed that the Minimum Support Price (MSP) system in existence before the enactment of the farm laws should be maintained until further orders. In addition, the farmers’ landholdings should be protected.
•“That is, no farmer shall be dispossessed or deprived of his title as a result of any action taken under the farm laws,” it ordered.
•The three farm laws have been projected by the government as major reforms in the agriculture sector to remove middlemen and allow farmers to sell anywhere in the country. The government projected the laws as an antidote to lowering demands caused by the pandemic.
•However, protesting farmers consider the laws as a key to an exploitative regime that would ultimately lead to the loss of their lands.
‘Basic misapprehension’
•Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said farmers have fallen prey to the “basic misapprehension” that the laws would lead to loss of agricultural land. “The law is only for voluntary contract farming of crops. Agricultural land will remain immune,” he submitted.
•Advocate Manohar Lal Sharma, for some farmers, retorted, “But all farmers have is their land to pay in case of any damages”.
•Senior advocate P. Wilson, for a section of farmers from Tamil Nadu, welcomed the stay.
•But the court recorded the submissions made by several sections of farmers who, on the other hand, supported the laws. Some even said they were aggrieved by the stay.
•Senior advocate V. Chitambaresh, for the Bhartiya Kisan Sangh, said they were happy with the farm laws.
•Advocate Sridhar Potaraju, for the Consortium of Indian Farmers Association, which represents 15 farmers’ unions across 15 States, said they would be “badly affected” by the stay as their produce would rot.
•Advocate A.P. Singh, for the Bhartiya Kisan Union [BHANU], agreed to “dissuade” senior citizens, women and children from leaving the protest sites.
•Advocate Ajay Choudhary, for Kisan Maha Panchayat, submitted that the farmers protesting at the Rajasthan border were willing to appear before the expert committee.
📰 A temple in Kadapa where only men and cows are allowed
Raus IAS Prelims 2021 Test 1 With Solutions PDF
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Raus IAS Prelims 2021 Test 1 With Solutions PDF
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Tips to prepare for the personal interview of UPSC EPFO 2020-21 recruitment
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The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducts the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) recruitment test to choose the most eligible candidates. The candidates will have to cross two levels of entrance tests conducted in different test locations. The UPSC EPFO Recruitment 2020 will conduct the first level of pen-paper test very soon. Previously, the exam date for the written test was decided to be on 4th October 2020. Due to the pandemic conditions, the date has been postponed again.
The chosen
candidates will have to appear in a personal interview for the second and last
level of recruitment. The personal interview rounds are quite intimidating for the
new examinees. The candidates need to prepare for personal interviews once they
cross the first level. For this, one can check how the UPSC IES candidates prepare themselves for the
interviews.
How can you prepare for the UPSC EPFO 2020 interview round?
