VISION

 Appearing before a Bench led by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar, Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju said he received information late on January 21 about the government’s unwillingness.

The court asked Mr. Raju to put the submission on record in an affidavit. The case is scheduled again for January 25. In previous hearings, the government had been telling the court that a decision to grant another chance for the UPSC aspirants was under active consideration.

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1)  Cabinet approves Rs 5,282-cr investment for 850 MW Ratle project on Chenab river

•The Union Cabinet has approved 850 megawatts (MW) Ratle hydropower project worth an Rs. 5281.94 crore on Chenab river in Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir. The project is being implemented under the Centre’s plan to expedite strategically important hydropower projects in the union territory post its reorganization.

•The project will be developed by a new joint venture company between state-run National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) Ltd and Jammu & Kashmir State Power Development Corporation Ltd (JKSPDC), where NHPC will have a 51% stake in the JV firm, while the balance will be held by JKSPDC.

2)  CM to inaugurate first child-friendly police station of U’khand

•Uttarakhand Chief Minister, Trivendra Singh Rawat will inaugurate the first child-friendly police station of Uttarakhand, which is meant to provide a friendly environment to children associated with crimes. The child-friendly police unit has been set up in the Dalanwala police station with a budget of about Rs 5 lakhs on the recommendation of the Child Protection Committee of Uttarakhand.

•According to the chairperson of State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) Usha Negi, the children who are either victims or need proper counselling or visit police station due to other reasons should be provided with a comfortable and unintimidating environment rather than keeping them in a dull and scary atmosphere. To keep children at ease, the walls are painted in bright colours and cartoons and the police personnel will also be dressed in casual clothes rather than their uniforms.

3)  Andaman and Nicobar Command to conduct joint military exercise ‘Kavach’

•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 Joint Military Exercise Kavach will involve Indian Navy, Indian Army, Indian Air Force and Indian Coast Guard.

4)  Axis Bank launches Aura Credit Card with health, wellness benefits

•Axis Bank has unveiled a credit ‘AURA’ exclusively loaded with several health and wellness benefits for its users at an affordable price. Axis Bank has partnered with Poshvine to offer benefits and specialists such as Decathlon, Practo, Fitternity, IndushealthPlus, 1MG etc., to offer a complete and unique health & wellness solution to the cardholders.

5)  The Global Risks Report 2021 released

•The World Economic Forum (WEF) has released the Global Risks Report 2021, 16th Edition. The findings of the report are based on the Global Risks Perception Survey (GRPS) undertaken by over 650 members of WEF’s diverse leadership communities. The Report is prepared with Strategic Partners, Marsh McLennan in Partnership with SK Group and Zurich Insurance Group.

•The report is being released before WEF’s upcoming virtual Davos Agenda scheduled to be held between January 25-29, 2021. The main objective behind the publishing of the report is to enable better preparation by Government & other International Communities during the times of crisis.

i. The Survey respondents also assessed Individual Global Risks based on Likelihood & Impact

•The Top 3 Risks by Likelihood (Very Likely to happen in the next 10 years) are Extreme Weather, Climate Action Failure & Human Environmental Damage.

•The Top 3 Risks by Impact (amount of impact they are expected to create) are Infectious diseases, Climate Action Failure & Weapons of mass destruction.

ii. Widespread Effects:

•COVID-19 has brought a major change in the 2021 rankings compared to Global Risks Report Rankings of 2020.

•In 2020, Infectious diseases were ranked 10th in the list of most critical threats.

•COVID-19 has caused both widespread losses of life & delay of economic development in poorest parts of the world, thus amplifying wealth inequalities across the world.

iii. Climate Concerns:

•Even though carbon emissions have seen a decline due to lockdown & disruption due to Lockdown, they are expected to increase when the recovery process starts.

iv. Process to Counter Risks:

•The report has stated the Global Communities to draw lessons from the responses to COVID-19 to boost the Global Resilience in future.

•This includes formulating Analytical Frameworks, Creating new forms of partnerships and Building trust through clear & consistent communication.

•The RBI state-owned SBI, along with private-sector lenders ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank continue to be Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs) or institutions which are ‘too big to fail’. SBI, ICICI Bank, and HDFC Bank continue to be identified as Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs), under the same bucketing structure as in the 2018 list of D-SIBs.

7)  RBI slaps penalty of Rs 2 crore on Standard Chartered Bank

•The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 2 crore on Standard Chartered Bank–India for delays in reporting of frauds.  The penalty has been imposed on the bank for non-compliance with certain directions issued by it contained in the ‘Reserve Bank of India (Frauds – Classification and Reporting by commercial banks and select FIs) Directions 2016’.

•The notice was issued to the bank advising it to show cause as to why penalty should not be imposed on it for such non-compliance with the directions. After considering the bank’s reply to the notice and oral submissions made in the personal hearing, the RBI concluded that the charge of non-compliance with the aforesaid RBI directions was substantiated and warranted imposition of monetary penalty.

📰 Rajiv Gandhi assassination case | Tamil Nadu Governor will decide on Perarivalan plea in 3, 4 days

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 Rau’s IAS Prelims 2021 Test 5 With Solution PDF

 Why in news?

Nearly a fortnight after it won approval for Covaxin under ‘restricted emergency use’ conditions, Bharat Biotech has released a fact sheet, with details of possible adverse events and those eligible for the vaccine.

What does the factsheet specify?

• The vaccine [Covaxin] is inadvisable in those with a history of allergies, fever and bleeding disorders.
• Those on medication or blood thinners and whose immunity has been compromised have also been told not to take the vaccine.
• It also recommended that the vaccine is not to be given to the pregnant or the lactating women.
• The vaccine was also contraindicated for those using other COVID-19 vaccines and people with any other serious health related issues.
• To note, a similar set of restrictions has been given to prospective recipients of Covishield too.

Why is this so significant?

 Shankar IAS Monthly Prestorming December 2020 PDF