WEEKLY ROUND UP (20th TO 25th January 2020) - National IAS ...
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National IAS Academy Weekly Roundup – 20th to 25th January 2020 Contact: 9632334466
PRESENTS
WEEKLY ROUND UP
(20th TO 25th January 2020)
JAYANAGAR BRANCH: LUCKY PARADISE, 2ND FLOOR, 8TH F MAIN ROAD, 22ND CROSS,
OPPOSITE TO ICICI BANK, 3RD BLOCK, JAYANAGAR, BANGALORE -560011
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National IAS Academy Weekly Roundup – 20th to 25th January 2020 Contact: 9632334466
INDEX
SL TOPIC PAGE
NO NO
Connect to Prelims
1 NATIONAL ROAD SAFETY WEEK 3
2 ASSAM INLAND WATER TRANSPORT PROJECT 3
3 PULSE POLIO PROGRAMME 4
4 NORTHERN WHITE RHINOS 5
5 CENTRE FOR EXCELLENCE IN BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY 5
6 K-4 MISSILE 6
7 SEXUAL HARASSMENT AT WORKPLACE 7
8 IRRAWADDY DOLPHINS 8
9 NATIONAL TRIBAL YOUTH EXCHANGE PROGRAMME 8
10 PATHRI 9
11 XENOBOT 9
12 GLOBAL SOCIAL MOBILITY REPORT 10
13 ELECTORAL BONDS 11
14 HALWA CEREMONY 12
15 GLOBAL INVESTMENT TREND MONITOR REPORT 12
16 GLOBAL RISKS REPORT 2020 13
17 NATURE RISK RISING REPORT 14
18 WOLLEMI PINE 15
19 WARREN HASTINGS 15
20 PRADHAN MANTRI RASHTRIYA BAL PURASKAR 2020 16
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National IAS Academy Weekly Roundup – 20th to 25th January 2020 Contact: 9632334466
CONNECT TO PRELIMS
1. NATIONAL ROAD SAFETY WEEK
Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways alongwith National Safety Council of
India (NSC) observed the 31st National Road Safety Week from 11th January to 17th
January 2020 for generating awareness about safe road usage.
The theme of this year was "Bringing Change Through Youth".
National Safety Council (NSC) was set up by the Ministry of Labour, Government of
India (GOI) in 1966 to generate, develop and sustain a voluntary movement on Safety,
Health and Environment (SHE) at the national level.
It is an apex nonprofit making, autonomous body, registered under the Societies
Registration Act 1860 and the Bombay Public Trust Act 1950.
It is managed by a tripartite 51-member Board of Governors headed by the Chairman,
nominated by the Government of India.
2. ASSAM INLAND WATER TRANSPORT PROJECT
The Government of India, the Government of Assam and the World Bank signed a loan
agreement of $88 million for the implementation of Assam Inland Water Transport
Project.
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National IAS Academy Weekly Roundup – 20th to 25th January 2020 Contact: 9632334466 Assam has the largest network of navigable waterways in India. Under the Assam Inland Water Transport Project (AIWTP), the infrastructure of passenger ferry services will be improved and the capacity of institutions running the inland water transport will be strengthened. The project will support the Government of Assam’s efforts to corporatise its own ferry activities. Loan of $88 million from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) has a final maturity of 14.5 years including a grace period of five years. 3. PULSE POLIO PROGRAMME The Union health ministry launched this year’s Pulse Polio Programme. Polio or poliomyelitis is a highly infectious viral disease, which mainly affects young children. The virus is transmitted by person-to-person, spread mainly through the faecal-oral route or, less frequently, by a common vehicle (e.g. contaminated water or food) and multiplies in the intestine, from where it can invade the nervous system and can cause paralysis. Initial symptoms of polio include fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck, and pain in the limbs. In a small proportion of cases, the disease causes paralysis, which is often permanent. There is no cure for polio, it can only be prevented by immunization. India launched the Pulse Polio immunisation programme in 1995, after a resolution for a global initiative of polio eradication was adopted by the World Health Assembly (WHA) in 1988. Children in the age group of 0-5 years are administered polio drops during national and sub-national immunisation rounds (in high-risk areas) every year. The last polio case in the country was reported from Howrah district of West Bengal in 2011. The WHO in 2012, removed India from the list of countries with active endemic wild polio virus transmission. In 2014, the South-East Asia Region of the WHO, of which India is a part, was certified as polio-free. 4|Page
National IAS Academy Weekly Roundup – 20th to 25th January 2020 Contact: 9632334466 To prevent the virus from coming to India, the government has since March 2014 made the Oral Polio Vaccination (OPV) mandatory for those travelling between India and polio-affected countries, such as Afghanistan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Syria and Cameroon. 4. NORTHERN WHITE RHINOS Researchers have created another embryo — the third — of the nearly extinct northern white rhino, a remarkable success in an ongoing global mission to keep the species from going extinct. The death of Sudan in 2018, who was earlier at the Dvur Králové Zoo in the Czech Republic, left the world with only two northern white rhinos, Najin, 30, and Fatu, 19 — both female. The northern white is one of the two subspecies of the white (or square-lipped) rhinocerous, which once roamed several African countries south of the Sahara. According to IUCN, the subspecies is considered Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct in the Wild). The other subspecies, the southern white is, by contrast, the most numerous subspecies of rhino, and is found primarily in South Africa. There is also the black (or hook-lipped) rhinocerous in Africa, which too, is fighting for survival, and at least three of whose subspecies are already extinct. 5. CENTRE FOR EXCELLENCE IN BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY 5|Page
National IAS Academy Weekly Roundup – 20th to 25th January 2020 Contact: 9632334466 National Informatics Centre (NIC) has set up the Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Blockchain Technology in Bengaluru, Karnataka. Blockchain technology is upcoming & niche technology and adoption of the same in sectors such as health, finance, agriculture and various other sectors would aid the government in implementing various programmes and provide trust and immutability to the assets. The CoE has developed Blockchain based Proof of Concepts (PoCs) for select government use cases to understand potential benefits provided by this emerging technology. With National Informatics Centre (NIC) providing a robust and an agile infrastructure, the CoE shall also provide Blockchain as a Service (BaaS) for efficient hosting of Blockchain network. 6. K-4 MISSILE The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully test-fired a 3,500-km range submarine-launched ballistic missile, K-4. K-4 is one of the two underwater missiles that were being developed by DRDO. The other one is the over 700 kilometre strike range BO-5 missile. The missile has been tested several times earlier as part of developmental trials to validate different parameters. Once inducted, these missiles will be the mainstay of the Arihant class of indigenous ballistic missile nuclear submarines and will give India the stand-off capability to launch nuclear weapons submerged in Indian waters. INS Arihant, the first and only operational SSBN, is armed with K-15 Sagarika missiles with a range of 750 km. 6|Page
National IAS Academy Weekly Roundup – 20th to 25th January 2020 Contact: 9632334466 The test was conducted from a submerged pontoon off the Visakhapatnam coast. A pontoon simulates the situation of a launch from a submarine. According to DRDO, there are very few countries which have managed to achieve this technological breakthrough with India’s Circular Error Probability (CEP) is much more sophisticated than Chinese missiles. The CEP determines the accuracy of a missile. The lower the CEP, the more accurate the missile is. SSBNis the US Navy hull classification symbol for a nuclear-powered, ballistic missile- carrying submarine. The SS denotes "submarine" or "submersible", the B denotes "ballistic missile," and the N denotes "nuclear powered." 7. SEXUAL HARASSMENT AT WORKPLACE The Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Home Minister Amit Shah, which was constituted to strengthen the legal framework to prevent sexual harassment at the workplace, has finalised its recommendations which will be put up for comments from the public soon. The Women and Child Development Ministry had steered the Sexual Harassment of Women and Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act in 2013, which was applicable to government offices, the private sector, NGOs and the unorganised sector. It made the employer responsible to prevent or deter acts of sexual harassment at the workplace. The 2013 Act had shortcomings like giving the powers of a civil court to the internal complaints committee without specifying if the members need to have a legal background. It only imposed a fine of ₹50,000 on employers for non-compliance. The Act said the employer shall provide assistance to the woman if she chooses to file a complaint under the IPC “against the perpetrator after the conclusion of the enquiry”. The proposed amendments would be largely based on the Vishaka Guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in 1997, on which the 2013 Act was based. As per National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) the number of sexual harassment incidents at “work or office premises” registered under Section 509 IPC (words, gesture or act to insult the modesty of a woman) were 479 and 401 in the years 2017 and 2018 respectively. 7|Page
National IAS Academy Weekly Roundup – 20th to 25th January 2020 Contact: 9632334466 Among the cities, the highest number of such cases were registered in Delhi (28), Bengaluru (20), Pune (12) and Mumbai (12) in 2018. The total number of sexual harassment incidents in 2018 including that in public places, shelter homes and others was 20,962. 8. IRRAWADDY DOLPHINS Odisha Forest Department officials sighted 146 endangered Irrawaddy dolphins in Chilika Lake, which boasts of the highest single lagoon population of the aquatic mammal in the world. These dolphins have a bulging forehead, SHORT BEAK, and 12-19 teeth on each side of both jaws. They pop out their head out of the water to breathe, followed by its back; the tail is rarely seen. Coastal areas in South and Southeast Asia, and in three river namely The Irrawaddy (Myanmar), the Mahakam (Indonesian Borneo) and the Mekong. The total population of these animals in the world is estimated to be less than 7,500. Of these, the highest — 6,400 — was reported from Bangladesh. The population in Chilika is considered to be the highest single lagoonal population. Dolphins had been under stress in Chilika due to unregulated boating by tourists as well as illegal prawn enclosures. IUCN Status is Endangered. 9. NATIONAL TRIBAL YOUTH EXCHANGE PROGRAMME The 12th National Tribal Youth Exchange Programme was inaugurated in Puducherry under which tribal youths will be visiting many places to know about the language, customs, culture, arts, dressing patterns, food pattern and other aspects of Puducherry. 8|Page
National IAS Academy Weekly Roundup – 20th to 25th January 2020 Contact: 9632334466 Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS) organizes Tribal Youth Exchange Programme with the support of Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India. The objective is to provide an opportunity to the tribal youth to understand the cultural ethos, language, lifestyles of the people depicting Socio –economic & Cultural Development & Development process unity in diversity aspect of our national life. The first programme was held in 2006. 10. PATHRI Recently, Maharashtra government announced that it would grant Rs 100 crore for the development of Pathri as a centre of religious tourism and “the birthplace of Sai Baba”. This has triggered anger in Shirdi, the town synonymous with the saint. Sai Baba of Shirdi was an Indian spiritual master who is regarded by his devotees as a saint and a fakir. He is revered by both his Hindu and Muslim devotees during, as well as after his lifetime. Pathri is a town and a municipal council in Parbhani district, Maharashtra. Several authoritative, popular works on Baba either directly mention Pathri as his possible birthplace, or speculate that he may have been from that area. Shirdi is a city located in the Rahata taluka of Ahmednagar District, Maharashtra. Sai Baba is said to have come to Shirdi in 1872, where he lived until he passed away on October 15, 1918. 11. XENOBOT Scientists in the United States have created the world’s first “living machines” — tiny robots built from the cells of the African clawed frog, that can move around on their own. 9|Page
National IAS Academy Weekly Roundup – 20th to 25th January 2020 Contact: 9632334466
They have named the millimetre-wide robots “xenobots” — after the species of aquatic
frog found across sub-Saharan Africa from Nigeria and Sudan to South Africa, Xenopus
laevis.
The xenobots “can move toward a target, perhaps pick up a payload (like a medicine that
needs to be carried to a specific place inside a patient) — and heal themselves after being
cut.
The “novel living machines” were “neither a traditional robot nor a known species of
animal”, but “a new class of artifact: a living, programmable organism”.
12. GLOBAL SOCIAL MOBILITY REPORT
The World Economic Forum has come out with its first-ever Global Social Mobility
Report, which has ranked India a lowly 76 out of the 82 countries profiled.
The concept of social mobility encompasses several concerns such as: Intragenerational
mobility, Intergenerational mobility, Absolute income mobility, Absolute educational
mobility, Relative income mobility and Relative educational mobility.
The WEF’s Global Social Mobility Index assesses the 82 economies on “10 pillars”
spread across the following five key dimensions of social mobility:
o Health;
o Education (access, quality and equity, lifelong learning);
o Technology;
o Work (opportunities, wages, conditions);
o Protection and Institutions (social protection and inclusive institutions).
Denmark tops the social mobility rankings while countries.
India’s overall ranking is a poor 76 out of the 82 countries considered.
In India, it would take 7 generations for a member of a poor family to achieve average
income.
Russia is ranked 39, china at 45, Brazil at 60 and Pakistan at 79.
10 | P a g eNational IAS Academy Weekly Roundup – 20th to 25th January 2020 Contact: 9632334466 13. ELECTORAL BONDS Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sharad A. Bobde orally made it clear that if the Supreme Court had found it unnecessary to stay the electoral bonds scheme earlier, it might not stay the scheme even now. Both the Election Commission (EC) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had strongly objected to the scheme and raised the red flag against it. According to critics, the scheme was being frequently opened to allow funds to fill the coffers of the ruling party. The government’s scheme was meant for Lok Sabha elections, but the sale window had been opened before State Assembly elections repeatedly. Instead of opening the scheme exclusively for the Lok Sabha election, as envisaged, it had become a mechanism to funnel benami funds to fuel political parties. In April 2019, the Supreme Court passed an interim order directing political parties to provide complete information to the EC in sealed covers on every single donor and contribution received by them till date through electoral bonds. However, it did not stay the operation of the scheme. The Finance Bill, 2017 introduced “electoral bonds” scheme, which was notified on January 2, 2018. Electoral bonds are interest-free bearer bonds that are used to donate money anonymously to political parties. The bonds are issued in multiples of Rs 1,000, Rs 10,000, Rs 1 lakh, Rs 10 lakh and Rs 1 crore which can be bought by Indian citizens or companies incorporated or established in India. 11 | P a g e
National IAS Academy Weekly Roundup – 20th to 25th January 2020 Contact: 9632334466 Only political parties registered under Section 29A of the Representation of the Peoples Act, 1951 and has secured no less than one per cent votes in the last Lok Sabha elections are eligible to receive electoral bonds. The State Bank of India (SBI) is the only bank authorised to sell them. Buyers of the bonds have to submit full KYC details at the time of buying. But the beneficiary political party is not required to reveal the identity of the entity that has given it the bond(s). 14. HALWA CEREMONY The Union Finance Ministry held its traditional Halwa ceremony in its headquarters at North Block. The function was presided over by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The tradition, which goes back several years, involves preparing the ‘halwa’ sweet dish in a big ‘kadhai’ (large frying pot) and serving it to the entire staff in the ministry. The ceremony marks the commencement of the printing process of the Central government’s budget. After Halwa is served, the officials and support staff, who are directly associated with the Budget making and printing process, are required to stay in the Budget Press (situated inside North Block) and remain cut off from their families until the presentation of the Union Budget in the Lok Sabha. The “lock-in” which follows the ‘halwa ceremony’ is observed to maintain the secrecy of the Budget preparation process. 15. GLOBAL INVESTMENT TREND MONITOR REPORT 12 | P a g e
National IAS Academy Weekly Roundup – 20th to 25th January 2020 Contact: 9632334466 The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) released the Global Investment Trend Monitor report. The global Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) remained flat in 2019 at $1.39 trillion, a one % decline from a revised $1.41 trillion in 2018 against the backdrop of weaker macroeconomic performance and policy uncertainty for investors, including trade tensions. The FDI flows to developed countries remained at a historically low level, decreasing by a further six % to an estimated $643 billion. Developing economies continue to absorb more than half of global FDI flows. South Asia recorded a 10 % increase in FDI to $60 billion. India was among the top 10 recipients of FDI in 2019, attracting $49 billion in inflows, a 16 % increase from the previous year, driving the FDI growth in South Asia. The majority went into services industries, including information technology. The United States remained the largest recipient of FDI, followed by China with flows of $140 billion and Singapore with $110 billion. China saw zero-growth in FDI inflows. The report showed that cross-border M&As declined 40% in 2019 to $490 billion – the lowest level since 2014. The fall in global cross-border M&As sales was deepest in the services sector which declined 56% to $207 billion, followed by a 19% fall in manufacturing to $249 billion and a 14% decrease in primary sector to $34 billion. The decline in M&A values was driven also by a lower number of mega deals. In 2019, there were 30 mega deals above $5 billion compared to 39 in 2018. 16. GLOBAL RISKS REPORT 2020 The World Economic Forum (WEF) released the 15th edition Global Risks Report. The top 5 risks in terms of likelihood over the next decade are environmental. These are: 13 | P a g e
National IAS Academy Weekly Roundup – 20th to 25th January 2020 Contact: 9632334466
o Extreme weather events with major damage to property, infrastructure and loss of
human life
o Failure of climate-change mitigation and adaptation by governments and
businesses.
o Human-made environmental damage and disasters, including environmental
crime, such as oil spills, and radioactive contamination.
o Major biodiversity losses and ecosystem collapse
o Major natural disasters like earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions and
geomagnetic storms
These are the top 5 risks by severity of impact over the next 10 years:
o Failure of climate change mitigation and adaptation
o Weapons of mass destruction
o Major biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse
o Extreme weather events (e.g. floods, storms, etc.)
o Water crises
17. NATURE RISK RISING REPORT
The World Economic Forum (WEF) released a report titled Nature Risk Rising, the first
in the series of New Nature Economy (NNE) reports.
The World Economic Forum is launching a series of New Nature Economy (NNE)
reports in 2020, making the business and economic case for safeguarding nature.
The series of reports is being developed under the umbrella of the Nature Action
Agenda (NAA), a platform for committed actors to catalyse public-private momentum in
the run-up to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity COP15 – in Kunming, China, in
October 2020.
14 | P a g eNational IAS Academy Weekly Roundup – 20th to 25th January 2020 Contact: 9632334466
The series will span three reports that focus on the following priorities:
o Make the case for why the nature crisis is crucial to business and the economy
o Identify a set of priority socioeconomic systems for transformation
o Scope the market and investment opportunities for nature-based solutions to
environmental challenges
Nature Risk Rising:
o Nature Risk Rising is the first report in the NNE series.
o It has been produced by World Economic Forum in collaboration with PwC.
o The report explains how nature-related risks matter to business and why they must
be urgently mainstreamed into risk management strategies.
18. WOLLEMI PINE
The prehistoric Wollemi Pine grove, which exists in a secret location within the Wollemi
National Park northwest of Sydney, has been saved from Australian bushfires in a covert
firefighting mission.
Wollemia is a genus of coniferous tree in the family Araucariaceae.
Wollemi National Park in New South Wales is the only place in the world where these
trees are found in the wild. The genus is named after the National Park.
The tree has been almost universally referred to as the Wollemi pine, although it is not a
true pine (genus Pinus) nor a member of the pine family (Pinaceae)
The Wollemi Pine is one of the world's oldest and rarest plants dating back to the time of
the dinosaurs.
The oldest fossil of the Wollemi tree has been dated to 90-200 million years ago.
With less than 200 left, the Wollemi pine is classified as critically endangered (CR) on
the IUCN's Red List. prior to 1994 it was thought to be extinct.
19. WARREN HASTINGS
Donald Trump’s impeachment trial started in the US Senate.
A precedent being discussed is that of the Warren Hastings case — the famous failed
attempt by the British Parliament to impeach India’s first governor-general.
15 | P a g eNational IAS Academy Weekly Roundup – 20th to 25th January 2020 Contact: 9632334466 Warren Hastings, the first governor-general of Bengal (and the first de facto Governor- General of India), is considered among the most significant colonial administrators to have ruled the country. First as the governor of Bengal (1772-1774) and then as Governor-General (1774- 1785), Hastings strengthened British rule in the country, and made profound changes in administration. Hastings’s conduct while in office was called into question after he returned to Britain in 1785. In 1786, impeachment proceedings were initiated against Hastings, probing his alleged mismanagement, mistreatment of natives, and personal corruption while in India. The impeachment trial began in 1788. In 1795, however, the House of Lords acquitted Hastings, and the impeachment failed. Attempt to get Hastings impeached, despite the latter’s actions being non-indictable, is now being discussed again as the Trump trial unfolds. 20. PRADHAN MANTRI RASHTRIYA BAL PURASKAR 2020 The President of India presented the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2020. Under this scheme, awards are given every year in two categories i.e. (1) Bal Shakti Puruskar to individuals and (2) Bal Kalyan Puraskar for institutions/individuals working for children. Bal Shakti Puraskar is given to recognize exceptional achievements of our children in various fields i.e., innovation, scholastic achievements, social service, arts & culture, sports and bravery. Bal Kalyan Puraskar is given to recognize the contribution of dedicated individuals and institutions for the welfare of children. The award scheme is administered by Ministry of Women & Child Development. ********************************************* 16 | P a g e
National IAS Academy Weekly Roundup – 20th to 25th January 2020 Contact: 9632334466
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