Current Affairs In Detail 8/9/20

🔰Daily Current Affairs | 08-09-2020 🔰

 1-Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Steel Dharmendra Pradhan , along with Union Minister of Education, Ramesh PokhriyalNishank laid the foundation stone for academic block, library and staff quarters at Central University of Odisha (CUO) in Koraput. 

पेट्रोलियम और प्राकृतिक गैस और इस्पात मंत्री धर्मेन्द्र प्रधान ने केन्‍द्रीय शिक्षा मंत्री रमेश पोखरियाल ‘निशंक’ के साथ ओडिशा के केन्‍द्रीय विश्वविद्यालय (सीयूओ) कोरापुट में शैक्षणिक ब्लॉक, पुस्तकालय और स्टाफ क्वार्टर की आधारशिला रखी।

2-Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce and Industry & Railways and H.E. Tran Tuan Anh, Minister of Industry and Trade of Vietnam co-chaired the 17th ASEAN-India Economic Ministers Consultations held virtually on 29th August 2020. 

केन्द्रीय वाणिज्य एवं उद्योग और रेल मंत्री पीयूष गोयल तथा वियतनाम के उद्योग और व्यापार मंत्री त्रान तुआन अन्ह ने 29 अगस्त, 2020 को वर्चुअल रूप में आयोजित 17वें आसियान-भारत आर्थिक मंत्रियों के परामर्श बैठक की सह-अध्यक्षता की। 

3-The Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Naval Command (SNC) Vice Admiral Anil K Chawla, PVSM, AVSM, NM, VSM, ADC inaugurated a Plastic Waste Handling Facility at Naval Base Kochi on 29 Aug 20. 

फ्लैग ऑफिसर कमांडिंग इन चीफ, दक्षिणी नौसेना कमांड (एसएनसी), वाइस एडमिरल अनिल के चावला, पीवीएसएम, एवीएसएम, एनएम, वीएसएम, एडीसी ने 29 अगस्त 2020 को कोच्चि के नौसेना बेस में प्लास्टिक अपशिष्ट निपटान सुविधा का उद्घाटन किया। 

4-India's fiscal deficit is expected to touch 7% of GDP in 2020-21 fiscal as against budget estimate of 3.5%, with revenue collections being hit amid disruptions in economic activities due to lockdowns, according to Brickwork Ratings. 

ब्रिकवर्क रेटिंग्स के अनुसार, भारत का राजकोषीय घाटा वित्त वर्ष 2020-21 में जीडीपी के 7 प्रतिशत पर पहुंच जाने का अनुमान है, जबकि बजट में इसके 3.5 प्रतिशत रहने का अनुमान लगाया गया है, ‘लॉकडाउन’ से आर्थिक गतिविधियों के प्रभावित होने व राजस्व संग्रह में कमी को देखते राजकोषीय घाटा बढ़ने की आशंका है।

5-A "valour wall" depicting the names of gallantry award-winning CRPF officers has been inaugurated at the force's training academy in Gurgaon. 

केंद्रीय रिजर्व सुरक्षा बल (सीआरपीएफ) की गुड़गांव स्थित प्रशिक्षण अकादमी में एक “पराक्रम की दीवार” का उद्घाटन किया गया जिस पर सीआरपीएफ के वीरता पुरस्कार प्राप्त अधिकारियों के नाम अंकित है।

6-Eminent agriculture journalist and editor of the Kannada farm journal 'Adike Patrike', Manchi Srinivasa Achar, died. He was 74. 

प्रख्यात कृषि पत्रकार और कन्नड़ कृषि पत्रिका ‘आदिके पत्रिके’ के संपादक मांची श्रीनिवास अचर का निधन हो गया। वह 74 वर्ष के थे।

7-Arsenal beat Liverpool 5-4 on penalties to lift the FA Community Shield at the Wembley Stadium. 

आर्सेनल ने पेनल्टी शूटआउट में लीवरपूल को 5-4 से हराकर वेम्बली स्टेडियम में कम्यूनिटी शील्ड मैच अपने नाम किया।

8-Chennaiyin FC has appointed Csaba Laszlo as its head coach for the upcoming season of the Indian Super League. 

चेन्नईयिन एफसी ने इंडियन सुपर लीग के आगामी सत्र के लिए कसाबा लास्लो को अपना मुख्य कोच नियुक्त किया है।

9-World number one Novak Djokovic has won the Western & Southern Open after a 1-6 6-3 6-4 victory over Canadian Milos Raonic in Cincinnati, USA. 

सिनसिनाटी, अमेरिका में विश्व के नंबर एक नोवाक जोकोविच ने कनाडाई मिलोस राओनिक पर 1-6 6-3 6-4 से जीत के बाद वेस्टर्न एंड सदर्न ओपन जीता ।

10-Randall Kenan, an author whose stories explored the experience of being Black and gay in the American South, has died. He was 57.

लेखक रैंडल केनन, काले और समलैंगिक लोगों के विषय में कहानियां लिखने के लिए जाने जाते थे, का निधन हो गया। वह 57 वर्ष के थे।

11-Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd (RRVL), subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd will acquire the retail and wholesale business and the logistics and warehousing business from the Future Group as going concerns on a slump sale basis for lumpsum aggregate consideration of INR 24,713 crore.  

रिलायंस इंडस्ट्रीज लिमिटेड (आरआईएल) की सहायक कंपनी रिलायंस रिटेल वेंचर लिमिटेड (आरआरवीएल) ने फ्यूचर समूह के खुदरा और थोक कारोबार तथा लॉजिस्टिक्स और भंडारण कारोबार के एकमुश्त 24,713 करोड़ रुपये के दाम में अधिग्रहण की घोषणा की।

Qatar brings in reforms in labour laws

Part of: GS Prelims and GS-II- International relations

In news

    Recently, Qatar has brought about a change in its labour laws.

Key takeaways

    First reform: It has abolished the unjustified ‘kafala system’ (requirement for a “no objection certificate). Under this system, migrant workers needed to get NOC from their employers before changing jobs.

    Now, workers will have to serve a one-month notice period if they have worked for less than two years and notice period of two months if they have worked longer

    Second reform: It involves increasing the minimum wage by 25 per cent to $274 or 1000 Qatari riyals and an additional 300 QAR for food and 500 QAR for accommodation in case not provided by the company.

    These reforms are now applicable to workers of all nationalities and in all sectors, including domestic workers.

Do you know?

    The International Labour Organisation (ILO) notes that Qatar is the first country in the region to dismantle the “kafala” sponsorship system that is common in the Gulf region.

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The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) urges for a review of criminal contempt laws in India

Part of: GS Prelims and GS-II- International relations; Important Organisations; Judiciary

In news

    The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) has urged for a review of criminal contempt laws in India, 

    It has expressed its concerns over the Supreme Court’s decision to convict Advocate Prashant Bhushan for criminal contempt.

Key takeaways

    For the ICJ, the conviction appears to be inconsistent with international standards on freedom of expression and the role of lawyers.

    It goes against the general protection of free speech and expression in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

    It is also  inconsistent with the freedom of expression law guaranteed by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

    It goes against the principles enshrined under the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers.

Important value additions

Contempt of Court

    Article 129 and 215 of the Indian Constitution empowers the SC and High Courts respectively to punish people for their respective contempt.

    Article 142: It empowers the SC to punish for its contempt. 

    However, what is contempt of court per se has not been defined by the Indian Constitution.

    The Contempt of Court Act, 1971, elaborately deals with the concept of contempt of court.

    The Act divides contempt into civil and criminal contempt.

Do you know?

    The SC had recently found Prashant Bhushan guilty of ‘scandalizing the court’ on a suo-motu consideration of his two tweets. It has fined him with Rs. 1.

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Covid-19 Detection Using Mass Spectrometer developed

Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III- Science and Technology

In news

    Researchers from the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) and the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) have developed a technique that uses mass spectrometry to detect novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2).

Important value additions

Mass Spectrometry (MS)

    It is an analytical technique used for determining the elemental composition of samples, quantifying the mass of particles and molecules, and explaining their chemical structure.

    MS is based on ionization and fragmentation of sample molecules in the gaseous phase.

    The new technique based on mass spectrometry relies on detecting the presence of two peptides which are unique to SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Do you know?

    The new method can directly detect the virus without amplifying the RNA for detection.

    With the new technique, scientists have been able to detect novel coronavirus with 95% sensitivity and 100% specificity with respect to RT-PCR. 

    This is much better than the alternative rapid antigen kits.

    Detection of the virus takes less than three minutes;

    The method also allows for effective pooling of samples.

    Different Types of Test for Detecting Covid-19: (1) RT-PCR Tests; (2) Rapid Antigen Detection Tests; (3) RTnPCR Tests; (4) Feluda Tests; (5) ELISA Antibody Tests; (6) SalivaDirect Test

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UNSC Rejects to Designate Indians as Terrorists

Part of: GS Prelims and GS-II- Global groupings; International Relations

In news

    The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has rejected all Pakistan’s requests to list four Indians as designated terrorists under its 1267 Committee for Counterterrorism Sanctions.

Important value additions

UNSC Resolution 1267 Sanctions Committee

    This committee oversees the implementation of sanctions pursuant to UNSC resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015).

    It was adopted unanimously on 15th October 1999.

    It is one of the most important and active UN subsidiary bodies working on efforts to combat terrorism, particularly in relation to Al Qaeda, Taliban and the Islamic State group. 

    It prepares a consolidated list of people associated with these organizations.

    It discusses UN efforts to limit the movement of terrorists, especially those related to travel bans, the freezing of assets and arms embargoes for terrorism.

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Capping of MEIS Scheme Benefits

Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III- Economy; Import and Export

In news

    The Central government has taken a decision to cap export incentives under Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) at Rs. 2 crore per exporter on outbound shipments made during September-December, 2020.

Key takeaways

    The ceiling would be subject to a downward revision to ensure that the total claim doesn’t exceed the allocated Rs. 5,000 crore for the period.

    The new Import Export Code (IEC) obtained on or after 1st September will be ineligible to submit any MEIS claim for exports.

    The Indian government has announced a new WTO-compliant scheme called Remission of Duties or Taxes On Export Product (RoDTEP) which will replace MEIS starting 1st January 2021.

Important value additions

Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS)

    It was introduced in the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2015-20 

    Objective: To offset infrastructural inefficiencies and associated costs involved in exporting goods/products which are produced /manufactured in India including products produced/manufactured by MSME Sector

Remission of Duties or Taxes On Export Product (RoDTEP)

    The new scheme is implemented from 1st January 2020.

    It creates a fully automated route for Input Tax Credit (ITC) in the GST to help increase exports in India.

    It will reimburse all the taxes/duties/levies being charged at the Central/State/Local level which are not currently refunded under any of the existing schemes but are incurred at the manufacturing and distribution process.

    The Ministry of Finance has set up a committee under the chairmanship of former commerce and home secretary GK Pillai to finalise the rates under RoDTEP.

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[pib] Start-Up Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP)

The SVEP is propelling enterprises in rural areas and building rural entrepreneurs during this pandemic.

Try this PYQ 2015:

How does the National Rural Livelihood Mission seek to improve livelihood options of rural poor?

By setting up a large number of new manufacturing industries and agribusiness centres in rural areas.

By strengthening 'self-help groups' and providing skills development

By supplying seeds, fertilizers, diesel pump-set sand micro-irrigation equipment free of cost of farmers.

Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

(a) 1 and 2 only 

(b) 2 only 

(c) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

About SVEP

The SVEP is implemented by Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana -National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), Ministry of Rural Development, as a sub-scheme since 2016.

Its aims are to support the rural poor come out of poverty, supporting them set up enterprises and provide support till the enterprises stabilize.

SVEP focuses on providing self-employment opportunities with financial assistance and training in business management and soft skills while creating local community cadres for promotion of enterprises.

It addresses three major pillars of rural start-ups namely - finances, incubation and skill ecosystems.

Key elements of SVEP

Create a Block Resource Centre - Enterprise Promotion (BRC-EP); The BRC should act as a nodal centre to implement SVEP. Block Level Federation (BLF) to come up under NRLM could be one of the institutional platforms for BRC.

Cluster Level Federation (CLF) /VOs shall hold the entity till BLF comes into existence. BRC should follow a self-sustaining revenue model.

BRC to be assisted by CRP-EP and the Bank Coordination System (Bank Mitra). BRC to provide resource and reference material including videos, manuals etc.

Help enterprises get bank finance using tablet-based software for making the business feasibility plan, doing credit appraisal and tracking business performance.

Use the Community Investment Fund (CIF) to provide seed capital for starting the business until it reaches a size where bank finance is needed.

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In news: Malabar Rebellion

A report submitted to the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) in 2016 has termed the Malabar Rebellion leaders as 'rioters'.

Try this question from CSP 2015:

Q. Which amongst the following provided a common factor for a tribal insurrection in India in the 19th century?

(a) Introduction of a new system of land revenue and taxation- of tribal products

(b) Influence of foreign religious missionaries in tribal areas

(c) Rise of a large number of money lenders, traders and revenue farmers as middlemen in tribal areas

(d) The complete disruption of the old agrarian order of the tribal communities

What is the Malabar Rebellion?

The Malabar Rebellion in 1921 started as resistance against the British colonial rule and the feudal system in southern Malabar but ended in communal violence between Hindus and Muslims.

There were a series of clashes between Mappila peasantry and their landlords, supported by the British, throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries.

It began as a reaction against a heavy-handed crackdown on the Khilafat Movement, a campaign in defence of the Ottoman Caliphate by the British authorities in the Eranad and Valluvanad taluks of Malabar.

The Mappilas attacked and took control of police stations, British government offices, courts and government treasuries.

Why is it contentious?

It largely took the shape of guerrilla-type attacks on janmis (feudal landlords, who were mostly upper-caste Hindus) and the police and troops.

Mappilas had been among the victims of oppressive agrarian relations protected by the British.

But the political mobilization in the region in the aftermath of the Khilafat agitation and Gandhi's non-cooperation struggle served as an opportunity for an extremist section to invoke a religious idiom to express their suffering.

There were excesses on both sides rebels and government troops. Incidents of murder, looting and forced conversion led many to discredit the uprising as a manifestation of religious bigotry.

Moderate Khilafat leaders lamented that the rebellion had alienated the Hindu sympathy.

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Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HSTDV)



The DRDO has successfully demonstrated the hypersonic air-breathing scramjet technology with the flight test of the Hypersonic Technology Demonstration Vehicle (HSTDV).

Take note of close dissimilarities between Ramjet and Scramjet engines.

About HSTDV

HSTDV is an unmanned scramjet vehicle with a capability to travel at six times the speed of sound.

The scramjets are a variant of a category of jet engines called the air-breathing engines.

The ability of engines to handle airflows of speeds in multiples of the speed of sound gives it a capability of operating at those speeds.

Hypersonic speeds are those which are five times or more than the speed of sound.

The unit tested by the DRDO can achieve upto six times the speed of sound or Mach 6, which is well over 7000 km per hour or around two km per second.

Its development

The DRDO started on the development of the engine in the early 2010s.

The ISRO has also worked on the development of the technology and has successfully tested a system in 2016. DRDO too has conducted a test of this system in June 2019.

The special project of the DRDO consisted of contributions from its multiple facilities including the Pune headquartered Armament and Combat Engineering Cluster.

Back2Basics: Ramjet V. Scramjet



A ramjet is a form of air-breathing jet engine that uses the vehicle's forward motion to compress incoming air for combustion without a rotating compressor.

Fuel is injected in the combustion chamber where it mixes with the hot compressed air and ignites.

A ramjet-powered vehicle requires an assisted take-off like a rocket assist to accelerate it to a speed where it begins to produce thrust.

Ramjets work most efficiently at supersonic speeds around Mach 3 (three times the speed of sound) and can operate up to speeds of Mach 6.

However, the ramjet efficiency starts to drop when the vehicle reaches hypersonic speeds.

A scramjet engine is an improvement over the ramjet engine as it efficiently operates at hypersonic speeds and allows supersonic combustion. Thus it is known as Supersonic Combustion Ramjet or Scramjet.

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