DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS 25TH JANUARY 2021
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
Best IAS Coaching in Bangalore Daily Current Affairs 25th January 2021
Shiksha IAS https://iasshiksha.com/daily-current-affair/daily-current-affairs-25th-january-2021/
DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS 25TH JANUARY 2021
Posted on January 25, 2021 by admin
Page: 1Best IAS Coaching in Bangalore Daily Current Affairs 25th January 2021
Shiksha IAS https://iasshiksha.com/daily-current-affair/daily-current-affairs-25th-january-2021/
President Joe Biden rejoining the Paris climate agreement
CONTEXT:
1. New President of the United States signed an order to restore America’s participation in the
United Nations Paris Agreement on climate change.
ABOUT:
1. This decision will take effect on 19 February 2021. In 2001, the U.S., under George W. Bush, had
pulled out of the previous pact, the Kyoto Protocol.
2. Joining the Paris Agreement meant that the U.S. is now bound by its national pledge made
under the pact: to achieve an economy-wide reduction of its GHG emissions by 26%-28%
below the 2005 level in 2025.
3. Earlier, with the withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, America also stopped its contribution to
the UN’s Green Climate Fund, to which it had pledged $3 billion, after transferring an estimated
$1 billion.
4. US has promised an “enforcement mechanism to achieve net-zero emissions no later than
2050”, including a target no later than the end of his term in 2025, aided by a planned federal
investment that will total $1.7 trillion over ten years, besides private investments.
5. The plan revolves around 10 million well-paying clean energy jobs with a focus on solar and
wind power.
6. This year’s UN climate conference in Glasgow will see the new administration engaging
UNFCCC member-nations to raise global ambition.
Page: 2Best IAS Coaching in Bangalore Daily Current Affairs 25th January 2021
Shiksha IAS https://iasshiksha.com/daily-current-affair/daily-current-affairs-25th-january-2021/
Source: The
Hindu
Page: 3Best IAS Coaching in Bangalore Daily Current Affairs 25th January 2021
Shiksha IAS https://iasshiksha.com/daily-current-affair/daily-current-affairs-25th-january-2021/
‘Chinese using Indian roads for trespass’
CONTEXT:
1. 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) at the Moldo border personnel
meeting point on the Chinese side opposite Chushul in Eastern Ladakh , the head of one of the
border villages claimed that Chinese vehicles were using Indian roads to enter Indian territory.
ABOUT:
1. The area where the Chinese are trying to assert themselves is close to Patrolling Point 38.
2. Indian nomads have not been there for winter grazing for the past two years due to some
illness in the livestock.
3. Chinese sauntering in Indian areas this time around has never happened. They are using roads
built by India to encroach on our territory.
4. There was no commonly delineated LAC and there was an overlap in the perception of the
LAC in many areas.
DISENGAGEMENT PLAN
1. It has to be a comprehensive disengagement plan beginning with all friction points in Eastern
Ladakh and then de-escalation along the Line of Actual Control, referring to China’s insistence
on discussions centred on the South Bank of Pangong Tso first and taking up other friction
areas later.
2. Any withdrawal will be phased and will take time, given the large number of troops and
equipment deployed by both sides and also verify compliance on the ground by the Chinese
side at each step.
Source: The Hindu
Mock trials of remote voting project soon: CEC
CONTEXT:
1. Chief Election Commissioner said address on the eve of the National Voters Day that the trials
of the Election Commission’s remote voting project would be carried out soon.
Page: 4Best IAS Coaching in Bangalore Daily Current Affairs 25th January 2021
Shiksha IAS https://iasshiksha.com/daily-current-affair/daily-current-affairs-25th-january-2021/
RESEARCH PROJECT
1. Election Commission of India has already started a research project on remote voting using
cutting-edge technology with IIT-Chennai and other leading institutions and it has made good
progress. Mock trials of this project will begin soon.
2. The system being developed by the IIT-M uses blockchain for two-way remote voting at
designated centres.
3. Another significant change look forward to is grant of postal ballot facility to overseas electors”.
4. The proposal was under “active consideration” of the Union Law Ministry.
DIGITAL MOVE
1. In another development, electors will be able to download electronic versions of the elector
photo ID card, or e-EPIC.
2. The digital version of EPICs would be available for download from the voter helpline app,
voterportal.eci.gov.in and nvsp.in.
3. The e-EPIC would be a non-editable PDF version of the EPIC that can be downloaded on the
phone and stored on the DigiLocker app or printed from a computer.
4. All general voters who have valid EPIC numbers would be able to do so from February 1 and
those who applied in November and December will be able to download it from Monday till
January 31.
Source: The Hindu
Sunderbans is home to 428 species of birds, says ZSI
CONTEXT:
1. According to a recent publication (Birds of the Sundarban Biosphere Reserve) of the Zoological
Survey of India (ZSI), the Indian Sunderbans, which is part of the largest mangrove forest in the
world, is home to 428 species of birds.
ABOUT:
1. 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).
2. 428 birds listed, some, like the masked finfoot and the Buffy fish owl, are recorded only from
the Sunderbans.
Page: 5Best IAS Coaching in Bangalore Daily Current Affairs 25th January 2021
Shiksha IAS https://iasshiksha.com/daily-current-affair/daily-current-affairs-25th-january-2021/
3. The area is home to nine out of 12 species of kingfishers found in the country as well rare
species such as the Goliath heron and the spoon-billed sandpiper.
4. India has over 1,300 species of birds and if 428 species of birds are from the Sunderbans, it
means that one in every three birds in the country is found in the unique ecosystem.
5. Sunderbans are the most diverse of natural landscapes and accounts for 60% of all mangrove
forests in the country.
6. The mudflats exposed in the low tides, rich in microorganism deposited during tidal activity,
are ideal feeding for migratory birds.
7. The mudflats and wetlands of the Sunderbans act as a stopover site for migratory flight south
and back.
PUBLICATION:
1. 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.
2. The book, with photographs of the males and females of various species, is aimed to kindle
interest and spread knowledge about birds among people from all walks of life — from forest
staff to tourists to amateur birdwatchers.
Source: The Hindu
Covid deepened inequalities: wealth, education, gender
CONTEXT:
1. A new report titled ‘The Inequality Virus’, by Oxfam has found that the Covid pandemic deeply
increased existing inequalities in India and around the world.
2. Oxfam India’s findings are part of the Oxfam International report released on the opening day
of the World Economic Forum’s “Davos Dialogues”.
WEALTH INEQUALITY:
1. The report has found that as the pandemic stalled the economy, forcing millions of poor
Indians out of jobs, the richest billionaires in India increased their wealth by 35 per cent.
2. The wealth of Indian billionaires increased by 35 per cent during the lockdown and by 90 per
cent since 2009 to $422.9 billion ranking India sixth in the world after US, China, Germany,
Russia and France.
3. In fact, the increase in wealth of the top 11 billionaires of India during the pandemic could
Page: 6Best IAS Coaching in Bangalore Daily Current Affairs 25th January 2021
Shiksha IAS https://iasshiksha.com/daily-current-affair/daily-current-affairs-25th-january-2021/
sustain the NREGS scheme for 10 years or the health ministry for 10 years.
4. The report states that Covid has the potential to increase economic inequality in almost every
country at once — the first time this has happened since records began over a century ago.
JOB OPPORTUNITIES:
1. Sectorally, India’s large informal workforce was the worst hit as it made up 75 per cent of the
122 million jobs lost.
2. Informal workers had relatively fewer opportunities to work from home and suffered more job
loss compared to the formal sector.
3. The 40-50 million seasonal migrant workers, typically engaged working in construction sites,
factories etc. were particularly distressed.
EDUCATION AND HEALTH INEQUALITIES:
1. Over the past year as education shifted online, India saw the digital divide worsening
inequalities.
2. On the one hand, private providers experienced exponential growth yet, on the other, just 3 per
cent of the poorest 20 per cent of Indian households had access to a computer and just 9 per
cent had access to the internet.
3. In terms of healthcare, Oxfam found that since India does not report case data desegregated
by socio-economic or social categories, it is difficult to gauge the distribution of the disease
amongst various communities.
4. But India currently has the world’s second-largest cumulative number of COVID-19 positive
cases and globally, the poor, marginalised and vulnerable communities have higher rates of
COVID-19 prevalence.
SANITATION FACILITIES:
1. The spread of disease was swift among poor communities, often living in crammed areas with
poor sanitation and using shared common facilities such as toilets and water points.
2. In this regard, only 6 per cent of the poorest 20 per cent households had access to non-shared
sources of improved sanitation, compared to 93 per cent of the top 20 per cent households in
India.
3. In terms of caste, just 37.2 per cent of SC households and 25.9 per cent of ST households had
access to non-shared sanitation facilities, compared to 65.7 per cent for the general population.
GENDER DISPARITIES:
1. The unemployment rate among women rose from already high 15 per cent before Covid to 18
per cent.
2. This increase in unemployment of women can result in a loss to India’s GDP of about 8 per cent
Page: 7Best IAS Coaching in Bangalore Daily Current Affairs 25th January 2021
Shiksha IAS https://iasshiksha.com/daily-current-affair/daily-current-affairs-25th-january-2021/
or $218 billion. Of the women who retained their jobs, as many 83% were subjected to a cut in
income.
3. Beyond income and job losses, poorer women also suffered healthwise because of the
disruption in regular health services and Anganwadi centres.
4. The pandemic also fueled domestic violence against women. As of November 30, 2020, cases
of domestic violence rose by almost 60% over the past 12 months.
CONCLUSION:
1. While the Coronavirus was being touted as a great equaliser in the beginning, it laid bare the
stark inequalities inherent in the society soon after the lockdown was imposed.
2. The deep divide between the rich and poor is proving as deadly as the virus.
3. There is an urgent need for policymakers to tax the wealthy individuals and rich corporates and
use that money to “invest in free quality public services and social protection to support
everyone, from cradle to grave”.
4. Reducing inequalities is very important but it should be a medium-term target. Between
growth and distribution, one must get the sequencing right. There is a need to grow first before
distribution. Otherwise, India will get stuck in a low-income equilibrium
Source: The Indian Express
Page: 8Best IAS Coaching in Bangalore Daily Current Affairs 25th January 2021
Shiksha IAS https://iasshiksha.com/daily-current-affair/daily-current-affairs-25th-january-2021/
There are no comments yet.
Page: 9You can also read
