Daily Current Affairs 24 April 2020 | UPSC Current Affairs 2020

Current Affairs Of Today Are

1) DRDO developed Mobile Laboratory to test COVID-19 samples

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh today unveiled via video conference a Mobile Virology Research and Diagnostics Laboratory (MVRDL) developed by DRDO in association with ESIC Hospital, Hyderabad and Private industry.
this Bio-Safety Level 2 and Level 3 lab in a record time of 15 days which usually takes about six months.
this testing facility which can process more than 1,000 samples in a day will enhance the country’s capabilities in fighting COVID-19.
The first of such Mobile Viral Research Lab (MVRL) that will speed up COVID-19 screening and related R&D activities was developed by Research Centre Imarat (RCI), the Hyderabad based laboratory of DRDO in consultation with ESIC Hospital, Hyderabad.
The Mobile Viral Research Lab is the combination of a BSL 3 lab and a BSL 2 lab essential to carry out the activities. The labs are built as per WHO and ICMR Bio-safety standards to meet international guidelines. The system has built-in electrical controls, LAN, Telephone cabling, and CCTV.
The Mobile Lab will be helpful to carry out the diagnosis of COVID-19 and also virus culturing for drug screening, Convalescent plasma-derived therapy, comprehensive immune profiling of COVID-19 patients towards vaccine development early clinical trials specific to the Indian population. The lab screens 1000-2000 samples per day. This lab can be positioned anywhere in the country, as per requirement.
DRDO acknowledged the contributions of M/s iCOMM for the provision of containers, M/s iClean for design and build of the BSL2 and BSL3 labs in a time-bound manner, and M/s Hi-Tech Hydraulics for providing the base frame.

Source: PIB

2) April Commodity Markets Outlook

COVID-19 is projected to bring most commodity prices down substantially in 2020, the World Bank said in its ‘April Commodity Markets Outlook’, released
Prices of energy and metals have been the worst hit. While there has been only a moderate impact on the agricultural commodities outlook, supply chain disruptions, and export restrictions and stockpiling by governments have raised food security concerns
The outlooks are “exceptionally uncertain” and depend on the severity and duration of the pandemic and when mitigation measures are unwound. Energy prices, which fell 18.4% quarteronquarter in 2020 Q1, are expected to average at 40% lower in 2020 than in 2019.
With crude benchmarks trading at below zero earlier this week, the bank projects oil prices to average at $35 per barrel in 2020.
This reflects a historically large expected drop in oil demand of 10%. Nonenergy prices are expected to fall 5% in 2020 and stabilize next year. Metal prices are expected to fall 13% and rebound modestly next year.
Agricultural prices are likely to stay broadly stable in 2020 because of relatively stable demand and alltime high levels of staple production and stock.
However, supply chain disruptions and trade policy announcements and stockpiling could create food shortages, the report said.
“Policymakers must resist the urge to impose trade restrictions and actions that put food security at risk, as the poor would be hit the hardest,” World Bank economist, Ceyla Pazarbasioglu, said.

Source: The Hindu

3) KVIC Comes To The Rescue of Cocoon Farmers In Tamil Nadu

When the country was struggling hard with deadly Coronavirus, Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), an autonomous body under the Ministry of MSME, in collaboration with its Khadi Institutions (KIs) in Tamil Nadu has discharged its responsibility once again by purchasing cocoons from cocoon farmers.
The main objectives of KVIC were to help the cocoon farmers struggling to sell their crops due to the lockdown pandemic outbreak and secondly to ensure a continuous supply of Cocoons to the khadi institutions involved in Silk production.
As per the procedure in vogue, Silk producing KIs have to purchase silk cocoons from the State Government-regulated sericulture markets only. Hence, permission was required from the district administration as well as from sericulture department for the direct purchase from the farmers
The necessity of this deal can be gauged by the fact that reared cocoon must be steamed within five days, or else the larvae would come out of it after cutting the cocoon shell, making the entire crop a complete waste. Cut cocoons cannot be used for reeling the silk yarn. In this sense, these purchases are a blessing for the cocoon farmers.
KVIC’s Chennai office in coordination with six Khadi institutions has facilitated the purchase of around 9500 kgs of the cocoon directly from the farmers, worth over Rs 40 lakhs. Six more KIs are likely to get permission soon to purchase 8000 kgs cocoon directly from farmers.
KVIC has always shown great concern for the development of farmers in particular and Khadi institutions in general; be it taking the historic initiative of setting up first-ever Silk Processing Plant in Surendranagar in Gujrat while reducing the cost of production of silk yarn drastically to implementing plans and policies to uplift cocoon farmers, KVIC has left no stone unturned and is consistently striving to make India a better place for farmers, producers, and the consumer.

Source: PIB

4) Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana

Petroleum and Natural Gas & Steel Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan have called upon all the stakeholders in the LPG cylinder supply chain to work diligently and systematically to speedily increase the delivery of free Refills to PMUY beneficiaries. Under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan package, over 8 crore PMUY beneficiaries are eligible to get 3 free cylinders over the next 3 months.

About Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana is a scheme of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas for providing LPG connections to women from Below Poverty Line (BPL) households.

Need

In India, the poor have limited access to cooking gas (LPG). The spread of LPG cylinders has been predominantly in the urban and semi-urban areas with coverage mostly in the middle class and affluent households. But there are serious health hazards associated with cooking based on fossil fuels. According to WHO estimates, about 5 lakh deaths in India alone due to unclean cooking fuels. Most of these premature deaths were due to non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lung cancer. Indoor air pollution is also responsible for a significant number of acute respiratory illnesses in young children. According to experts, having an open fire in the kitchen is like burning 400 cigarettes an hour.
Providing LPG connections to BPL households will ensure universal coverage of cooking gas in the country. This measure will empower women and protect their health. It will reduce drudgery and the time spent on cooking. It will also provide employment for rural youth in the supply chain of cooking gas.

Benefits to the citizens

Under the scheme, five crore LPG connections are to be provided to BPL households. The Scheme provides financial support of Rs 1600 for each LPG connection to the BPL households, interest-free loan to purchase a stove and refill by Oil Marketing Companies. The administrative cost of Rs. 1600 per connection, which includes a cylinder, pressure regulator, booklet, safety hose, etc. would be borne by the Government.

Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana scheme for the PMUY beneficiaries

As part of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana scheme for the PMUY beneficiaries to enable them to combat COVID 19 crisis, availability of up to 3 refills for 14.2 kg cylinders and advance Retail Selling Price being transferred by OMCs to the PMUY customer’s bank account, which can be withdrawn to obtain the refill from the distributor has been announced.

Source: PIB

5) CII says India growth may slip to 1.5% in FY21

The Confederation of Indian Industry on Thursday said it expected India’s economy to slow down considerably, with its estimate ranging from a contraction of 0.9% to a growth of 1.5%, in the current financial year due to the COVID-19 outbreak and the subsequent lockdown.
Noting that by the time the second phase of lockdown ends on May 3, it would have extended for 40 days, the industry body said the economic costs of the lockdown are rising with each passing day, with the impact being felt across sectors. “The situation requires immediate, across-the-board intervention from the government,” it added.
“Any significant revival in investment activity is unlikely as capacity utilization levels may remain suboptimal. Consumption demand is likely to remain lackluster as people’s incomes have been impacted,” it said.

A plan for economic recovery

In a new paper titled ‘A plan for economic recovery,’ the CII said, in an optimistic scenario, wherein a faster pickup post the lockdown period is envisaged, the GDP forecast is for growth of 1.5% ‘in the best case.’ In the ‘baseline scenario,’ the GDP is expected to grow at 0.6%. In the case of a more prolonged outbreak, the GDP is likely to contract by 0.9%, the CII added.

Confederation of Indian Industry

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is an industry association in India.
CII is a non-government, not-for-profit, industry-led, and industry-managed organization. Founded in 1895, it has over 9,000 members, from the private as well as public sectors, including SMEs and MNCs, and an indirect membership of over 300,000 enterprises from around 265 national and regional sectoral industry bodies.
CII works with the Government on policy issues. CII has been a catalyst for change in India's economic policy reforms. CII played a very important role during economic liberalization in 1991 which knocked down the high walls of protection between the Indian industry and the rest of the world.
With 65 offices, including 9 Centres of Excellence, in India, and 11 overseas offices in Australia, Bahrain, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Iran, Singapore, South Africa, United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as institutional partnerships with 355 counterpart organizations in 126 countries, CII serves as a reference point for Indian industry and the international business community.
The CII Theme for 2019-20 is ‘Competitiveness of India Inc - India@75: Forging Ahead.

Source: The Hindu

6) Exploring ‘Super-luminous supernovae exploded rapidly and decayed slowly

Researchers at the Arayabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) Nainital an autonomous research institute under the Department of Science and Technology (DST) Govt. of India found that SN 2010kd, a super-luminous supernova stands out with the amount of mass as well as Nickel ejected during the explosion, which is much more than seen in case of normal core-collapse supernovae.
Supernovae are a kind of energetic explosions that were the core of massive stars (a few times to that of the mass of our Sun) go to a catastrophic phase of explosion liberating huge amounts of energy. These events are visible through very far away distances much beyond our own solar system. Super-luminous supernovae are a special type of stellar explosions having energy output 10 or more times higher than that of standard supernovae.
The scientists said that the larger ejected mass of Super-luminous supernovae SN 2010kd indicates that the related star evolution might be different from other possible progenitors of normal core-collapse supernovae with a different possible underlying physical mechanism responsible for producing such energetic supernovae with large ejected mass and Ni. It exploded with a larger velocity but decayed shower than other similar supernovae.
The super-luminous supernova titled SN 2010kd is rather nearby -- approximately at a distance of 1.5 Giga light-years discovered by Robotic Optical Transient Search Experiment (ROTSE-IIIb) telescope as a part of ROTSE supernova verification project in the USA on 14 November 2010 embedded in a dwarf host galaxy towards Leo constellation.
Team members analyzed all the data of this super-luminous supernova SN 2010kd in the light of known physics and proposed models. They carried out analytical light-curve modeling of the optical data taken from ROTSE IIIb and 1.04m Sampurnanand Telescope and spectral modeling of the data taken using 8-10m class optical telescopes for this supernova. The data were also compared with the know published a set of more than half a dozen similar supernovae around similar distances.
The observations of the scientists show that parameters like rotation and metallicity play a crucial role in stellar explosions and that there are many more types of possible progenitors existing in diverse environments in their host galaxies than previously known.
Comparing the line velocities as obtained using spectral modeling, the scientists showed that SN 2010kd exploded with a larger velocity but decayed shower than other similar supernovae. The elected mass of the Oxygen and estimated values of the luminosity of other spectral lines were also found to be higher for SN 2010kd.

A typical cartoon explaining a supernova explosion

Line velocities of SN 2010kd are compared with a set of well-studied SLSNe I at comparable redshift. In comparison to SN 2010kd, fast-decaying SLSNe, as well as PTF12dam, appear to have velocities with steeper decay rates, whereas SN 2015bn seems to have lower velocity values with similar decay rates.

Source: PIB

7) The Parliamentary Committee on Labour

The Parliamentary Committee on Labour, in its report on the Industrial Relations Code, 2019, submitted has recommended that “in case of natural calamities, payment of wages to the workers until the reestablishment of the industry may be unjustifiable”.
The Industrial Code makes it incumbent upon the employer to pay 50% wages to the workers/employees who are laid off due to a shortage of power, coal, raw material, and such instances for 45 days.
The committee has, however, expressed reservation on payment of the prescribed percentage of wages to the workers in the event of closure of an establishment due to “natural calamity”. “In case of natural calamities like earthquake, flood, super cyclone, etc. which often result in the closure of establishments for a considerably longer period without the employer’s fault, payment of wages to the workers until the reestablishment of the industry may be unjustifiable,” the report says.
The committee has suggested that “clarity” be brought in so that employers “not responsible for closure or lay off, are not disadvantaged in case of such natural calamity of high intent”.

The Industrial Relations Code, 2019

The Code provides for the recognition of trade unions, notice periods for strikes and lock-outs, standing orders, and resolution of industrial disputes. It subsumes and replaces three labor laws: the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947; the Trade Unions Act, 1926; and the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946.
Trade unions that have a membership of at least 10% of the workers or 100 workers will be registered. The union with 75% of workers in an establishment will be the sole negotiating union. Otherwise, a negotiating council of unions will be formed.
An employee cannot go on strike unless he gives notice for a strike within six weeks before striking, and within 14 days of giving such notice. Similar provisions exist for the lock-out of workers.
Industrial establishments with 100 workers must prepare standing orders on matters listed in a Schedule and have them certified.
Factories, mines, or plantations in which 100 or more workers are employed are required to take prior permission of the central or state government before laying off or retrenching their workers.
The Code provides for the constitution of Industrial Tribunals for the settlement of industrial disputes. Each Industrial Tribunal will consist of a Judicial Member and an Administrative Member.

Key Issues and Analysis

The Code prohibits strikes or lock-outs in any establishment unless prior notice of 14 days is provided. Similar provisions existed in the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 for public utility services (such as railways and airlines). The Code expands these provisions to apply to all industrial establishments. This may impact the ability of workers to strike and employers to lock-out.
The Code permits the government to defer, reject or modify awards passed by Industrial Tribunals and the National Industrial Tribunal. A similar provision in the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 was struck down by the Madras High Court in 2011, as it violated the principle of separation of powers by allowing the government to change the decision of a Tribunal through executive action.
The Code requires the employer of establishments with at least 100 workers to obtain permission from the appropriate government before the retrenchment of a worker. The government may increase or decrease this threshold through a notification. The question is whether the power to determine such a threshold should be specified by Parliament or whether it should be delegated to the government.

Source: The Hindu

8) World Book Day

World Book Day, also known as World Book and Copyright Day, or International Day of the Book, is an annual event organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to promote reading, publishing, and copyright. The first World Book Day was celebrated on 23 April in 1995 and continues to be recognized on that day. A related event in the United Kingdom and Ireland is observed in March.
The original idea was of the Spanish writer Vicente Clavel Andrés as a way to honor the author, Miguel de Cervantes, first on 7 October, his birth date, then on 23 April, his death date. In 1995 UNESCO decided that the World Book and Copyright Day would be celebrated on 23 April, as the date is also the anniversary of the death of Miguel de Cervantes, William Shakespeare, and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, as well as that of the birth or death of several other prominent authors. (In a historical coincidence, Shakespeare and Cervantes died on the same date — 23 April 1616 — but not on the same day, as at the time, Spain used the Gregorian calendar and England used the Julian calendar; Shakespeare actually died 10 days after Cervantes died, on 3 May of the Gregorian calendar).
Union Minister of Human Resource Development, Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ extended greetings to everyone on the occasion of World Book Day and launched the #MyBookMyFriend campaign on social media on the occasion.

Source: PIB

9) Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package

Using the digital payment infrastructure, more than 33crore poor people have been directly given financial assistance of Rs 31,235 crore( as on 22nd April 2020)under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP) announced by Union Finance Minister SmtNirmalaSitharaman on 26th March 2020 to protect them from the impact of the lockdown due to COVID 19.
As part of the PMGKP, the Government announced free food grains and cash payments to women and poor senior citizens and farmers. The swift implementation of the package is being continuously monitored by Central and State governments. Finance Ministry, the concerned Ministries, Cabinet Secretariat and PMO are leaving no stone unturned to ensure that the relief measures reach the needy swiftly and in line with the intent of the lockdown.
Fintech and digital technology have been employed for swift and efficient transfer to the beneficiary. Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), i.e. transfer that ensures that the amount is directly credited into the account of the beneficiary, eliminates leakage, and improves efficiency has been employed. This has also ensured credit to the beneficiary’s account without the need for the beneficiary to physically go to the branch

The progress achieved so far, under various components of PMGKP is as follows:

Pradhan MantriGaribKalyanAnn Yojana:-

So far 40.03 Lakh MT of food grains has been lifted by 36 States/UTs out of 40 Lakh MT for April. 19.63 lakh MT has been distributed by 31 States/UT to 39.27crore beneficiaries covered by 1.19 Crore Ration cards as of April 2020 entitlement.
1,09,227 MT of Pulses has also been dispatched to various states/UTs.

Free Gas Cylinders to Pradhan MantriUjjwalaYojana beneficiaries:

Total 3.05crore cylinders have been booked under this PMUY scheme so far and 2.66 crorePMUY free cylinders already delivered to beneficiaries.

The nonrefundable advance of 75% of the outstanding balance or 3 months’ wages, whichever is lower allowed to the members EPFO:-

6.06 lakh members of EPFOhave availed online withdrawal of Rs. 1954 crore so far.

EPF contribution for 3 months;

Payment of 24% of Wages as a contribution to EPFO members drawing wages below Rs 15000 per month in establishment up to 100 workers.
An amount of Rs.1000 crore has already been released to EPFOfor the Scheme for April, 2020.78.74 lakh beneficiaries and concerned establishments have been informed. A scheme to implement the announcement finalized. FAQs have been put on the website
A total of 10.6 lakh employees have benefitted so far and a total of Rs. 162.11 crore has been transferred in 68,775 establishments.

MNREGA:-

The increased rate has been notified by w.e.f 01-04-2020.In the current financial year, 1.27croreperson’s man-days of work generated. Further, Rs 7300 crore released to states to liquidate pending dues of both wage and material.
Insurance Scheme for health workers in Government Hospitals and Health Care Centres:-
The Scheme has been operationalized by New India Assurance covering 22.12 Lakh health workers.

Support to Farmers:-

Of the total disbursement, Rs 16,146crore has gone towards payment of the first installment of PM-KISAN. Under the scheme, all8crore out of the 8 crores identified beneficiaries got ₹2,000 directly in their account.

Support to PMJDY Women account holders:-

A large number of households in India are largely managed by the women, under the package, as many as 20.05crore women, Jan Dhan account holders received ₹500 each in their account. As of 22nd April 2020, the total disbursement under the head was ₹10,025crore.

Support to old age persons, widows and disabled persons:-

The National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP)disbursed about ₹1,405crore to about 2.82 crore old age persons, widows, and disabled persons. Each beneficiary received ex-gratia cash of Rs 500 under the scheme as the first installment. Another installment of Rs 500 each will be paid for next month.

Support to Building & other Construction workers:-

As many as 2.17croreBuilding &construction workers received financial support from the Building and Construction Workers’ Fund managed by state governments. Under this Rs, 3,497crore has been given to beneficiaries.

Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana

Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, 2016 (PMGKY) (English, Prime Minister's Poor welfare scheme) is an amnesty scheme launched by the Narendra Modi led Government of India in December 2016 on the lines of the Income declaration scheme, 2016 (IDS) launched earlier in the year. A part of the Taxation Laws (Second Amendment) Act, 2016, the scheme provides an opportunity to declare unaccounted wealth and black money confidentially and avoid prosecution after paying a fine of 50% on the undisclosed income. An additional 25% of the undisclosed income is invested in the scheme which can be refunded after four years, without any interest.
Valid from December 16, 2016, to March 31, 2017, the scheme can only be availed to declare income in the form of cash or bank deposits in Indian bank accounts and not in the form of jewelry, stock, immovable property, or deposits in overseas accounts.
Not declaring undisclosed income under the PMGKY will attract a fine of 77.25% if the income is shown in tax returns. In case the income is not shown in tax returns, it will attract a further 10% penalty followed by prosecution.

Source: PIB

10) Global Report on Food Crises

A new edition of the annual Global Report on Food Crises has been released by the Global Network Against Food Crises.
The report reveals the scope of food crises as COVID-19 poses new risks to vulnerable countries.

Key findings:

At the close of 2019, 135 million people across 55 countries and territories experienced acute food insecurity.
Additionally, in 2019, 183 million people were classified in Stressed condition — at the cusp of acute hunger and at risk of slipping into Crisis or worse if faced with a shock or stressor, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Worst hit areas: More than half (73 million) of the 135 million people covered by the report live in Africa; 43 million live in the Middle East and Asia; 18.5 million live in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The key drivers behind the trends analyzed in the report were: conflict, (the key factor that pushed 77 million people into acute food insecurity), weather extremes (34 million people), and economic turbulence (24 million).

What is Acute food insecurity?

Acute food insecurity is when a person’s inability to consume adequate food puts their lives or livelihoods in immediate danger.
It is more severe than / not the same as chronic hunger, as reported on each year by the UN’s annual State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report.
Chronic hunger is when a person is unable to consume enough food over an extended period to maintain a normal, active lifestyle.

About the Global Network against Food Crises:

It was launched by the European Union, FAO, and WFP during the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) to respond to the WHS’s call for new approaches to tackle protracted crises and recurrent disasters, reduce vulnerability, and manage risk, by bridging the divide between development and humanitarian partners.

Source: The Hindu

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