Daily Current Affairs 25 October 2019

Current Affairs Of Today are

1) India ranks 63 in World Bank’s Doing Business Report

The World Bank released its latest Doing Business Report(DBR, 2020) 24th October 2019. India has recorded a jump of 14 positions against its rank of 77 in 2019 to be placed now at 63rd rank among 190 countries assessed by the World Bank. India's leap of 14 ranks in the Ease of Doing Business ranking is significant considering that there has been a continuous improvement since 2015 and for the third consecutive year India is amongst the top 10 improvers. India’s DTF scores improved to 71.0 from 67.23 in the previous year.

The top 10 best places in the world to do business, according to the study, are 

1. New Zealand (with a score of 86.8 out of 100), 
2. Singapore (86.2), 
3. Hong Kong SAR, 
4. China (85.3), 
5. Denmark (85.3), 
6. the Republic of Korea (84), 
7. the United States (84), Georgia (83.7), 
8. the United Kingdom (83.5), 
9. Norway (82.6), and 
10. Sweden (82).

The important features of India's performance this year are:

• The World Bank has recognized India as one of the top 10 improvers for the third consecutive year.
• The recovery rate under resolving insolvency has improved significantly from 26.5% to 71.6%.
• The time taken for resolving insolvency has also come down significantly from 4.3 years to 1.6 years.
• India continues to maintain its first position among South Asian countries. It was 6th in 2014.

2) Defense Minister Rajnath Singh approves two Open General Export Licences in a major push for defense exports

• Rajnath Singh has approved the issuance of two Open General Export Licences (OGELs) for the export of certain parts &components and intra-company transfer of technology to select countries. It will give a boost to defense exports and enhance the ease of doing business. The application for the grant of OGEL will be considered by the Department of Defence Production (DPP) on a case-to-case basis.
• The countries allowed under the OGELs are Belgium, France, Germany, Japan, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, UK, USA, Canada, Italy, Poland, and Mexico. The export of items to a ‘Special Economic Zone’ is not permitted.
• The items permitted under OGEL include components of ammunition & fuse setting device without energetic and explosive material; firing control & related alerting and warning equipment & related system; and body protective items. Complete aircraft or complete unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and any components specially designed or modified for UAVs are excluded under this license.

3) New World Bank Project to Support Climate Resilient Agriculture for 125,000 Smallholder Farmers in Odisha

The Government of India, Government of Odisha and the World Bank signed a US$165 million loan agreement to support smallholder farmers strengthen the resilience of their production systems as well as diversify and improve the marketing of their produce, for increased income.

The Odisha Integrated Irrigation Project for Climate Resilient Agriculture will be implemented in rural areas vulnerable to droughts and largely dependent on rainfed agriculture. It will benefit about 125,000 smallholder farmer households from 15 districts of Odisha managing 128,000 ha of agricultural land. The project will strengthen the resilience of smallholder farmers against adverse climate by improving access to resilient seed varieties and production technologies, diversifying towards more climate-resilient crops, and improving access to better water management and irrigation services.

The project will support the rehabilitation of 532 water tanks - expected to irrigate 91,435 ha; promote productivity improvements at the farm level; support farmers to reduce the current emphasis on food grains (especially paddy and wheat) and increase the share of high-value and more nutritious products like fruits and vegetables; and provide marketing support to farmers who are able to generate a marketable surplus.

4) India signs the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor Agreement with Pakistan

India has signed the agreement with Pakistan on the modalities for the operationalization of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor at Zero Point, International Boundary, Dera Baba Nanak. Representatives from the Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Defence, and Ministry of Home Affairs along with the representatives from the Government of Punjab have been present during the signing ceremony.

The highlights of the Agreement are

• Indian pilgrims of all faiths and persons of Indian origin can use the corridor;
• The travel will be Visa-Free;
• Pilgrims need to carry only a valid passport;
• Persons of Indian Origin need to carry OCI card along with the passport of their country;
• The Corridor is open from dawn to dusk. Pilgrims traveling in the morning will have to return on the same day;
• The Corridor will be operational throughout the year, except on notified days, to be informed in advance;
• Pilgrims will have a choice to visit as individuals or in groups, and also to travel on foot;
• India will send the list of pilgrims to Pakistan 10 days ahead of the travel date. Confirmation will be sent to pilgrims 4 days before the travel date;
• The Pakistan side has assured India to make sufficient provision for ‘Langar’ and distribution of ‘Prasad’;

The main issue that has been a point of discussion is the insistence of Pakistan to levy US Dollars 20 as a service charge per pilgrim per visit. India has consistently urged Pakistan to not levy any fee on the pilgrims. It was stressed time and again, including in the previous three Joint Secretary Level meetings and at the diplomatic level, that this does not agree with the religious and spiritual sentiments of Indian pilgrims. 

 While the Agreement has been signed, the Government of India continues to urge this issue with the Government of Pakistan to reconsider its insistence on levying the fee. India remains ready to amend the Agreement accordingly.

5) Chennai Nashari Tunnel renamed after Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee

Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways and MSME Shri Nitin Gadkari and Shri Jitendra Singh, MoS (I/C) Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space announced renaming of Chenani Nashri Tunnel on NH 44 in Jammu & Kashmir as Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee Tunnel in an event in New Delhi today. This 9 km tunnel is the longest such state of art tunnel in the country, connecting Udhampur to Ramban in Jammu. Constructed for Rs 2500 crore, it cuts down 31 km of travel distance and reduces the travel time between the two points by about two hours, in addition to substantial savings in fuel cost.

6) Global Bio-India 2019

• The Global Bio-India 2019, one of the largest biotechnology stakeholders conglomerate will be held for the first time in India in New Delhi from 21st to 23rd November 2019.
• India for the first time is hosting a mega event for the biotech community to attract investments, showcase our indigenous strengths and more importantly fuel the hopes and aspirations of the indigenous talent pool
• The DBT, Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India along with its Public Sector Undertaking, Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) is organizing this event.
• The event has been structured to bring together stakeholders from 30 countries, 250 start-ups, 200 exhibitors. Central and State ministries, regulatory bodies, investors, totaling to 3500 participants are anticipated.
• The event is expected to strengthen the indigenous research capabilities, bio-entrepreneurship, investments and last-mile-delivery of technology across rural India and tier-2, 3 cities.

7) World Polio Day

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on World Polio Day (October 24), an independent commission of experts declared that wild poliovirus type 3 (WPV3) has been eradicated worldwide. This follows the eradication of smallpox and wild poliovirus type 2

Types of Poliovirus

There are three individual and immunologically distinct wild poliovirus strains: wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1), wild poliovirus type 2 (WPV2) and wild poliovirus type 3 (WPV3). Symptomatically, all three strains are identical, in that they cause irreversible paralysis or even death. But there are genetic and virological differences, which make these three strains three separate viruses that must each be eradicated individually