Daily Current Affairs 30 November 2019

Current Affairs of Today are

1) India announces $450 mn to Sri Lanka

• India and Sri Lanka agreed to cooperate on counter­terrorism during talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting President Gotabaya Rajapaksa
• As part of this common strategy, India announced a special Line of Credit of $50 million for strengthening Sri Lanka’s abilities to counter terror threats. 
• This was in addition to the $400 million Line of Credit that India announced for infrastructure development in Sri Lanka
• India has been building housing units in the Northern and Eastern parts of Sri Lanka to assist the people who were displaced during the war of 2009
• Under the Indian Housing Project, 46,000 houses have been constructed for the internally displaced in the Northern and Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka. There is good progress in the construction of 14,000 houses for Tamils of Indian origin in the Up­-Country region
• The issue of the fishing community that Colombo will take steps to release the boats of Indian fishermen that are in Sri Lankan custody

2) GDP growth hit a 25­ quarter low of 4.5%, lowest since 2012

• Growth in the gross domestic product (GDP) in the July-September quarter hit a 25­ quarter low of 4.5%.
• Growth in gross value added (GVA) also dipped to 4.3% in Q2 of 2019-­20 from 4.9% in Q1, and 6.9% in the Q2 of last year

What is Gross Value Added (GVA)?

In economics, gross value added (GVA) is the measure of the value of goods and services produced in an area, industry or sector of an economy. In national accounts GVA is output minus intermediate consumption; it is a balancing item of the national accounts' production account.

Relationship to gross domestic product

GVA is linked as a measurement to gross domestic product (GDP), as both are measures of output. The relationship is defined as:

GVA + taxes on products - subsidies on products = GDP

As the total aggregates of taxes on products and subsidies on products are only available at the whole economy level, Gross value added is used for measuring gross regional domestic product and other measures of the output of entities smaller than a whole economy. Restated,

GVA = GDP + subsidies - Indirect taxes

Over-simplistically, GVA is the grand total of all revenues, from final sales and (net) subsidies, which are incomes into businesses. Those incomes are then used to cover expenses (wages & salaries, dividends), savings (profits, depreciation), and (indirect) taxes.

GVA is sector-specific, and GDP is calculated by summation of GVA of all sectors of the economy with taxes added and subsidies are deducted.

Manufacturing Sector

According to the data released the manufacturing sector contracted 1% in the second quarter of the current financial year, compared with robust growth of 6.9% in the same quarter of the previous year. The manufacturing sector saw an overall contraction of 0.2% in the first half (April to September) of the current financial year compared to a growth of 9.4% in the first half of last year

Growth of the Indian economy

• The fundamentals of the Indian economy remain strong and GDP growth is expected to pick up from the third quarter of FY 2019-­20
• The International Monetary Fund has projected India’s GDP growth at 6.1% in financial year 2019­-20 and 7% in 2020­-21 in its October 2019 report

Agriculture Sector

The agriculture sector saw growth coming in at 2.1% in the second quarter of this year compared with 4.9% in Q2 of last year. The sector grew just 2.1% over the first six months of the year compared with 5% in the first half of the previous year.

Services Sectors 

Among the services sectors measured, only the ‘Public Administration, Defence & Other Services’ the category saw growth quicken in the second quarter of this year, to 11.6%, compared with 8.6% in the same quarter of the previous year

Gross fixed capital

Gross fixed capital formation, which is a measure of the level of investment in the country by both the government and the private sector, grew only 1.02% in the second quarter of this financial year, compared with a growth of 4.04% in the first quarter, and drastically lower than the growth of 11.8% seen in the Q2 of last year. 

3) FASTag

The government on Friday extended till December 15 the deadline for making FASTag mandatory for toll payments on national highways. 

Objective

• The objective is to remove bottlenecks and capture all toll electronically.
• All 560-odd plazas under the control of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will collect toll without human intervention, and vehicles need not stop to pay the toll

About FASTag

• The device employs Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology for payments directly from the prepaid or savings account linked to it.
• It is affixed on the windscreen, so the vehicle can drive through plazas without stopping.
• It is valid for five years and can be recharged as and when required.
• The payment method is a part of the National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC) program. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) collects the payments.

Need for this?

• According to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), these devices will make passing through tolls considerably smoother since drivers will no longer have to carry cash or stop to make a transaction.
• Cameras at toll booths will take photos of passengers in a vehicle, which will be useful for the Ministry of Home Affairs as there will be a record of a vehicle’s movement.

4) Vulture conservation center

• Uttar Pradesh is set to get its first conservation center for endangered vultures. And a Gau Sadan (cow conservation center) built by the State government may have led to the selection of the village site for the vulture conservation in eastern U.P.’s Maharajganj district
• The Jatayu Conservation and Breeding Centre would be set up at Bhari Baisi village in Pharendra tehsil under the Gorakhpur Forest Division
• More than 100 vultures were spotted in the Maghwalia range of the Maharajganj Forest Division in August

5)  Nag missiles

• The state­of­the­art indigenous Anti­Tank Guided Missile (ATGM) Nag is in advanced stages of
• development
• A new Man-Portable ATGM (MPATGM) was also in advanced stages of trials
• Both the DRDO ATGM program, as well as the invitation to Indian industry to develop a 3rd Gen missile will need a rethink, as having a 4th Gen missile will put the plan for the development of a 3rd Gen missile questionable

About Nag Missiles

• Nag, the 3rd gen ATGM, was in the process of being inducted after extensive tests. The MPATGM, in an advanced stage of development, was a fourth-generation ATGM
• Six tests had been conducted so far and all developmental trials were over In a year it will be ready for production
• The Nag missile, the best in its class, was built for Indian conditions

6) Warmer winter

• Winter is likely to be warmer than average, with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasting average minimum temperatures to be “warmer than average” over most of India
• The December­-January-February season will be hotter, except over “northernmost parts”. Minimum temperatures over most parts of central and peninsular India are likely to be warmer than normal by ≥1 degree Celsius
• India’s ‘core cold wave’ zone covers Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, and Telangana. Temperatures in these States, too, are expected to be on the higher side.

Reason?

• A reason for the warm winters in the warm surface waters of the equatorial Pacific Ocean. The IMD’s weather models expect these surface waters to cool over the winter
• Warm winters are a sign of global warming. India on average is 0.5 degrees Celsius warmer than 50 years ago.
• Rising temperatures lead to warmer than average ground temperatures and consequently a rise in minimum temperatures
• Overall global temperatures are on the rise, with several studies indicating an increase by 1 degree Celsius over pre­industrial levels. At current projections, the global temperature is expected to rise 3.2 degrees Celsius by the end of the century and intensify severe weather events.

7) Indo-Nepal joint Military Exercise SURYA KIRAN – XIV

Joint military exercise ‘SURYA KIRAN – XIV’ between India and Nepal will be conducted at Salijhandi, Rupendehi district of Nepal from   03 to 16 December 2019. The exercise will comprise 300 soldiers from both the Indian and Nepal Army who would be sharing their experience in the conduct of various counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations as also various humanitarian assistance missions by both the Armies.

About SURYA KIRAN – XIV

 Exercise SURYA KIRAN - XIV is an annual event that is conducted alternatively in Nepal and India. Notably, in the series of military training exercises undertaken by India with various countries, Exercise   SURYA KIRAN with Nepal is an important exercise in terms of the security challenges faced by both the nations in the realm of changing facets of global terrorism.

Aim of Exercise

This exercise aims to conduct a Battalion level combined training between the Indian Army and Nepal Army to increase interoperability in jungle warfare and counter-terrorism operations in mountainous terrain, humanitarian assistance, and disaster relief, medical and environmental conservation including aviation aspects.

8) Nationwide Artificial Insemination Program

The Nationwide Artificial Insemination Programme (N.A.I.P) which was launched by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on 11th September 2019 

The rate of Artificial Insemination is continuously increasing and has reached an average of 25,000 animals per day so far.

What is Artificial Insemination Program?

Artificial insemination (AI) is the deliberate introduction of sperm into a female's cervix or uterine cavity to achieve a pregnancy through in vivo fertilization by means other than sexual intercourse. It is a fertility treatment for humans and is a common practice in animal breeding, including dairy cattle (see Frozen bovine semen) and pigs.

Program Aim

3.8 Lakh Artificial Inseminations have been performed under this program benefitting more than 3.7 lakh farmers as on 29th November 2019. The aim of the program to inseminate over 1 crore bovines in 6 months & ear-tag them with ‘PashuAadhaar’ which is a unique identifier provided to the animals to enable the Government to identify and track the animals uniquely with all details such as the breed, age, gender and owner details. Every cow and buffalo under AI will be tagged and can be tracked through the Information Network on Animal Productivity and Health (INAPH) Database.

Statewise performance

Out of the 28 participating States, High Performing States include Telangana, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Uttarakhand, and Jharkhand. States that have been lagging includeChattishgarh, Goa, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh. In the State of West Bengal, the program is yet to start.  The North Eastern States except Sikkim are lagging behind and need to expedite the progress so as to ensure that the people in their States can benefit from the program

Overall A.I coverage in the selected districts is expected to enhance from the present level of 18% to 45% of the breedable bovine females under this program.