Daily Current Affairs 11 January 2020

Current Affairs Of Today Are

1) Steel mesh to replace fences on the borders

• The ‘rickety’ barbed wires along the Pakistan and Bangladesh borders are being replaced with a meshed fence made of steel and coated with anti-­rust paint, an official said.
• India shares a 4,096.7 km-long border with Bangladesh and 3,323 km with Pakistan. The cost of around 1 km offense is approximately ₹1.99 crore. The BSF, deployed along the Pakistan and Bangladesh borders, has been tasked with ensuring that the fence is installed in a timebound manner. Currently, a pilot project has been sanctioned at a cost of ₹14.3 crores at Lathitila in Assam’s Silchar district. The clearance was first given in 2016. 

Need for it

• This will be a complete overhaul of the security system. The unique quality of the new fence is that it cannot be snipped and nobody can climb it. There are many pockets along the border where the old barbed wires are so fragile that they can be destroyed with a mild push
• Union Home Minister Amit Shah reviewed the functioning of the BSF on December 14, where various technological solutions to plug the porous stretches of the border were discussed.

2) Index of Industrial Production (IIP)

• Having contracted for three months in a row, the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) recorded a growth of 1.8% in November, mainly on account of an improvement in the manufacturing sector, official data showed. The IIP growth in November 2018 was 0.2%
• According to the National Statistical Office (NSO) data, the growth in the manufacturing sector was 2.7% as against a contraction of 0.7% in the same month last year. 
• Electricity generation shrank by 5%, as against a growth of 5.1% in November 2018. The IIP growth during April-­November in the current fiscal came in at 0.6%, far slower than the 5% in the same period of 2018­-19. 
• Mining sector output decelerated to 1.7%, from 2.7% in the year-earlier period. The data for November further revealed that production of capital goods, a barometer of investment, contracted by 8.6%. This compares with a contraction of 4.1% in November 2018. Also, there was a contraction of 3.5% in the infrastructure and construction goods segment.  
• While consumer durables output was in the negative territory, the consumer non­durable segment or FMCG goods recorded a small growth of 2% (against a contraction of 0.3% in November 2018).
• As per the NSO data, 13 out of the 23 industry groups in the manufacturing sector showed positive growth during November 2019 as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year.

3) MoD approves rules of business for the Department of Military Affairs (DMA)

• The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has approved the rules of business for the newly created Department of Military Affairs (DMA), headed by the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), defense sources said
• The DMA, headed by Gen. Bipin Rawat, will have two Joint Secretaries, 13 Deputy Secretaries, 25 Under Secretaries and 22 Section officers
• The rules of business have been approved by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and would be notified as a gazette
• The training policy, most of the training establishments and cadre management of the Services would be under the purview of the DMA defense diplomacy of the neighborhood countries would also be under the CDS.
• Similarly, deputations to the training establishments, such as the National Defence Academy, the Indian Military Academy, the Officers Training Academy and the Defence Services Staff College would also be under the CDS. “Cadre review of Junior Commissioned Officers and Other Ranks will be looked after by the CDS,”
• The DMA is the fifth department in the MoD the others being the Department of Defence, the Department of Defence Production, the Department of Defence Research and Development and the Department of ExServicemen Welfare. 
• The Services have been brought under the ambit of the DMA, in addition to the Territorial Army and works relating to the three Services and procurement exclusive to the Services, except capital acquisitions.
• The DMA’s mandate includes promoting jointness in procurement, training, and staffing for the Services; facilitating a restructuring of the military commands for optimal utilization of resources by bringing about jointness in operations, including through the establishment of joint/theatre commands, and promoting the use of indigenous equipment.

4) Plea for population control

• The Supreme Court on Friday sought a response from the government to a petition for population control measures, including a two­child norm.
• A Bench, led by Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde, issued notice to the government on the petition filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay challenging the Delhi High Court’s dismissal of his PIL petition seeking urgent steps to control the country’s rising population. 
• The petition said, “Population explosion is more dangerous than a bomb explosion
• The High Court in September 2019, refused to intervene, saying it was up to the legislature to enact laws.
• However, Mr. Upadhyay contended that the HC had failed to appreciate that the right to clean air, drinking water, health, peaceful sleep, shelter, livelihood, and education, which are guaranteed under Articles 21 and 21A of the Constitution, could not be fully secured without controlling the population. 
• The plea in the High Court had claimed that the population of India had “marched ahead” of China, as about 20% of Indians did not have Aadhaar and therefore, were not accounted for.

5) The annual bird census

Indian Skimmer

• The annual bird census will commence in the Corniga Wildlife Sanctuary (CWS) and surrounding wetlands in the Godavari mangrove cover on the east coast from Saturday.
• The wildlife management authorities are all set to carry out the two­day census of the avian species, assessing the threats and challenges being faced by the water birds.
• Indian Skimmer, a waterbird species, has started visiting the Godavari mangroves for three years. The species can be sighted only in three places in the country, including the Chambal river in Central India. The census will document such incredible findings of the avian life surviving in the Godavari mangroves Divisional Forest Officer (KakinadaTerritorial) Nandan Salariya told
• The conservation status of the Indian Skimmer is ‘vulnerable’, according to the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

Aim 

The census aims at the documentation of migratory and resident birds to be able to prepare a better management plan of the complex ecosystem that supports the waterbird species. It will give us a picture of its present state and results of the conservation being done in the wildlife sanctuary and outside

About the census 

• According to Forest department authorities, at least 50 personnel research scholars, volunteers, and bird watchers will conduct the census. The prime focus will be on the 235.7 sq km area under the CWL and Kumbabhisekham site in the Godavari mangroves that serves as the safe habitat for many bird species.
• Indian Bird Conservation Network State co­ordinator (Andhra Pradesh) K. Mrutyunjaya Rao is the leading ornithologist coordinating the census. The entire crew will be divided into the 14 groups for carrying out the bird count. 

6) U.S. sanctions target eight top  Iran officials, metals industry

• The United States on Friday announced fresh sanctions against eight top Iranian officials it accused of working to destabilize the region, as well as against more than a dozen leading producers of metals in the Islamic republic
• As a result of these actions, we will cut off billions of dollars of support to the Iranian regime,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters at a White House briefing. Among the officials targeted in the new measures were Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Mohammad Reza Ashtiani, the Iranian armed forces Deputy Chief of Staff and Gholamreza Soleimani, the head of the Basij militia, a volunteer force loyal to the regime.
• The U.S. Treasury also slapped sanctions on 17 Iranian metals producers and mining companies, which, it said, generated billions of dollars in revenue. 
• The sanctions also included a network of three entities that are based in China and Seychelles as well as a vessel “involved in the purchase, sale, and transfer of Iranian metals products,
• The measures hitting Iran’s economy “will continue until the regime stops the funding of global terrorism and commits to never having nuclear weapons.”

7) IEA Launches First In-depth Review of India’s Energy Policies

• In partnership with NITI Aayog, International Energy Agency (IEA) today released the first in-depth review of India’s energy policies.
• The IEA report congratulates the Indian government on its outstanding achievements in extending citizens’ access to electricity, affordable efficient lighting and clean cooking in record time through historic schemes like SAUBHAGYA, UJALA, and UJJWALA while pursuing energy market reforms and the swift deployment of renewable technologies. The report highlights the strong growth of renewables in India, which now accounts for almost 23% of the country’s total installed capacity. The review also found that energy efficiency improvements in India avoided 15% of additional energy demand, oil and gas imports, and air pollution as well as 300 million tonnes of CO2 emissions between 2000 and 2018.
• India is becoming increasingly influential in global energy trends. The country’s demand for energy is set to double by 2040, and its electricity demand may triple, according to the IEA report. Indian oil consumption is expected to grow faster than that of any other major economy. This makes further improving energy security a key priority for India’s economy, says the IEA.
• IEA welcomes Indian government policies designed to conduct large-scale renewable energy auctions, open up coal mining to private companies, and promote access to oil and gas markets for foreign investors. The report offers a wide range of recommendations for reforms in support of India’s goal of promoting open and well-functioning energy markets in sectors such as coal, gas, and electricity. These include building strong regulators to ensure non-discriminatory access, moving from state allocation to market pricing, and further rationalizing energy subsidies.
• In India’s renewables-rich states, the share of variable renewables in electricity generation is already above 15%, a level that calls for dedicated policies to ensure they integrate smoothly into the power system. NITI Aayog can play a strong role in working with the states to implement power sector reforms, advance grid integration, improve flexibility and coordinate energy policy decisions.
• The review also strongly encourages India to institutionalize energy policy coordination across the government with a national energy policy framework.
• The report will help India to design implementation strategies to achieve secure and sustainable energy access for its citizens.

8) Purvodaya

Ministry of steel in partnership with CII and JPC is organizing the launch of Purvodaya-Accelerated Development of Eastern Region through an Integrated Steel hub, in line with Prime Minister's Vision for focused development of the Eastern States.

Economic Benefit

The creation of such a world-class steel hub would significantly contribute to Purvodaya by propelling socio-economic development in the Eastern region. Steel capacity addition as envisioned in the hub would entail capital investments of >70 Bn. $ and lead to an incremental GSDP of >35 Bn. $ through steel alone. Growth of the steel industry through such a hub would lead to significant employment opportunities across the entire value chain, creating over 2.5 Million jobs in the region. The creation of world-class logistics and utility infrastructure would also spur the development of other manufacturing industries across sectors. This would also be accompanied by social infrastructure in the form of cities, schools, hospitals, skilling centers, etc. Such development, especially in the most under-developed regions in these states, will play a significant role in the overall socio-economic growth of Eastern India, thus reducing the disparity between the East and other regions of the country.

Integrated  Steel  Hub

• The proposed  Integrated  Steel  Hub, encompassing  Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, and Northern Andhra Pradesh, would serve as a torchbearer for socio-economic growth of Eastern India.
• The objective of this hub would be to enable swift capacity addition and improve the overall competitiveness of steel producers both in terms of cost and quality. In addition to increased steel capacity, this hub would also help enhance best-in-class value addition capabilities. The Integrated Steel Hub would focus on 3 key elements:
• Capacity addition through easing the setup of greenfield steel plants
• Development of steel clusters near integrated steel plants as well as demand centers
• Transformation of logistics and utility infrastructure which would change the socio-economic landscape in the East
• These elements would be supported through additional enablers such as ensured availability of raw materials, presence of supporting industries such as capital goods and well-established avenues for skill development.

9) Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C)

• Union Minister for Home Affairs, Shri Amit Shah, inaugurated the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) and also dedicated the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal to the Nation. This state-of-the-art Centre is located in New Delhi.
• The scheme to set up I4C was approved in October 2018 at an estimated cost of Rs. 415.86 crore, to deal with all types of cybercrimes in a comprehensive and coordinated manner. It has seven components viz., National Cyber Crime Threat Analytics Unit, National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal, National Cyber Crime Training Centre, Cyber Crime Ecosystem Management Unit, National Cyber Crime Research and Innovation Centre, National Cyber Crime Forensic Laboratory Ecosystem and Platform for Joint Cyber Crime Investigation Team. At the initiative of Union Ministry for Home Affairs (MHA), 15 States and UTs have given their consent to set up Regional Cyber Crime Coordination Centres at respective States/UTs. 
• National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (www.cybercrime.gov.in) is a citizen-centric initiative that will enable citizens to report cybercrimes online through the portal.  All the cybercrime-related complaints will be accessed by the concerned law enforcement agencies in the States and Union Territories for taking action as per law. This portal was launched on a pilot basis on 30th August 2019 and it enables filing of all cybercrimes with a specific focus on crimes against women, children, particularly child pornography, child sex abuse material, online content about rapes/gang rapes, etc.
• So far, more than 700 police districts and more than 3,900 police stations have been connected with this Portal.  After successful completion, this portal can improve the capacity of law enforcement agencies to investigate the cases and will improve success in prosecution. This portal also focuses on specific crimes like financial crime and social media related crimes like stalking, cyberbullying, etc.  This portal will improve coordination amongst the law enforcement agencies of different States, districts and police stations for dealing with cybercrimes in a coordinated and effective manner. MHA is committed to provide and create an ecosystem for dealing with cybercrimes in a comprehensive & coordinated manner.
• In the future, this portal will provide for a chatbot for an automated interactive assistance system to the public for guidance on cybercrime prevention and how to report incidents on the portal.