Daily Current Affairs 9 July 2020 | UPSC Current Affairs 2020

Current Affairs Of Today Are

1) Kuwait ex-pat bill cleared: The disastrous impact this can have on lakhs of Indians

• India's migrant workers in the nation of Kuwait have been dealt a calamitous blow as the Gulf nation seeks to pass an ex-pat quota bill that will see the number of foreign workers in the country markedly reduced in the coming years.
• The bill which has been deemed constitutional by the legislative committee of the country's National Assembly has yet to become enshrined into law but could see the percentage of Indians working in Kuwait drop to 15 percent, calling into question the futures of between seven and eight lakh Indian migrants.
• Kuwait has a population of 4.8 million, 70 percent of which is made up of its expatriate community. Indians are, by far, the largest ex-pat cohort within the nation, numbering approximately 1.4 million.
• The Indian embassy in Kuwait estimates that approximately 28,000 Indians are employed by the Kuwaiti government itself, in skilled and semi-skilled professions like engineering, nursing, and scientific research.
• The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Monday said that Kuwait is deeply committed to the friendly relations it has with India and does not support interference of any kind in its internal affairs.
• The ministry's comments have come in the wake of increasing criticism of India in Kuwait over alleged attacks on Muslims in certain parts of India.
• MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said, "We have seen certain references to India in non-official social media handles in Kuwait. The Government of Kuwait has assured us that they are deeply committed to friendly relations with India. They also do not support any interference in the internal affairs of India."
• It may also be noted that on the request of Kuwait, India recently deployed a Rapid Response Team there to assist the country in its fight against coronavirus, he added.
• Srivastava went on to say that during its two-week stay, India's Rapid Response Team rendered valuable medical assistance in testing and treatment of afflicted persons and training their personnel.
• "It's therefore important that the friendly nature of our relations is accurately recognized and misuse of social media is not given credence," said the MEA spokesperson.

Source: The Hindu

2) UNFCCC and Paris Agreement

• Shri Javadekar called upon developed country parties, once again, to do their part as envisaged under UNFCCC and its Paris Agreement, for extending financial and technological support to developing countries.
• “The promise of USD 1 trillion by 2020 has not been fulfilled so far, and I hope that in the remaining 5 months of 2020, the promised amount is mobilized and delivered, for further strengthening climate actions in developing countries.”, stressed the Environment Minister.
• Highlighting India’s efforts, the Environment Minister said that India has achieved a reduction of 21% in emission intensity of its GDP between 2005 and 2014, thereby achieving its pre-2020 voluntary target.
• Further, India’s renewable energy installed capacity has increased by 226% in the last 5 years and stands more than 87 Gigawatt.“The share of non-fossil sources in installed capacity of electricity generation increased from 30.5% in March 2015 to 37.7% in May 2020 and our Prime Minister has further announced the aspirational target of increasing our renewable energy capacity to 450 GW.”, pointed Shri Javadekar
• we have provided 80 million LPG connections in rural areas, providing them with clean cooking fuel and healthy environment. “India’s total forest and tree cover is 8,07,276 sq. km. which is 24.56% of the total geographical area of the country;
• More than 360 million LED bulbs have been distributed under the UJALA scheme, which has led to an energy saving of about 47 billion units of electricity per year and reduction of 38 million tonnes of CO2 per year.”, said the Environment minister.
• Highlighting India’s efforts towards cleaner fuel Shri Javadekar said that India has also leapfrogged from Bharat Stage-IV (BS-IV) to Bharat Stage-VI (BS-VI) emission norms by April 1, 2020, which was earlier to be adopted by 2024.
• The minister also highlighted how India had levied a coal cess of INR 400/- as part of one of the most explicit green initiatives & this is now subsumed under Goods and Services Tax(GST).
• “Under Smart Cities Mission, first-of-its-kind initiative – Climate-Smart Cities Assessment Framework 2019 has been launched which intends to provide a clear roadmap for cities and urban India towards combating climate change through adoption of both mitigation and adaptation measures.

Paris Agreement

• The Paris Agreement (French: L'accord de Paris) is an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), dealing with greenhouse-gas-emissions mitigation, adaptation, and finance, signed in 2016. The agreement's language was negotiated by representatives of 196 state parties at the 21st Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC in Le Bourget, near Paris, France, and adopted by consensus on 12 December 2015. As of February 2020, all UNFCCC members have signed the agreement, 189 have become a party to it, and the only significant emitters which are not parties are Iran and Turkey.
• The Paris Agreement's long-term temperature goal is to keep the increase in global average temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels; and to pursue efforts to limit the increase to 1.5 °C, recognizing that this would substantially reduce the risks and impacts of climate change. This should be done by reducing emissions as soon as possible, to "achieve a balance between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases" in the second half of the 21st century. It also aims to increase the ability of parties to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change, and make "finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development."
• Under the Paris Agreement, each country must determine, plan, and regularly report on the contribution that it undertakes to mitigate global warming. No mechanism forces a country to set a specific emissions target by a specific date, but each target should go beyond previously set targets. In June 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump announced his intention to withdraw the United States from the agreement. Under the agreement, the earliest effective date of withdrawal for the U.S. is November 2020, shortly before the end of President Trump's 2016 term. In practice, changes in United States policies that are contrary to the Paris Agreement have already been put in place.

Source: PIB

3) Agriculture Infrastructure Fund

• The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today has given its approval to a new pan India Central Sector Scheme-Agriculture Infrastructure Fund. The scheme shall provide a medium - long term debt financing facility for investment in viable projects for post-harvest management Infrastructure and community farming assets through interest subvention and financial support.
• Under the scheme, Rs. One Lakh Crore will be provided by banks and financial institutions as loans to Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS), Marketing Cooperative Societies, Farmer Producers Organizations (FPOs), Self Help Group (SHG), Farmers, Joint Liability Groups (JLG), Multipurpose Cooperative Societies, Agri-entrepreneurs, Startups, Aggregation Infrastructure Providers and Central/State agency or Local Body sponsored Public-Private Partnership Project
• Loans will be disbursed in four years starting with the sanction of Rs. 10,000 crore in the current year and Rs. 30,000 crore each in the next three financial years.
• All loans under this financing facility will have an interest subvention of 3% per annum up to a limit of Rs. 2 crores. This subvention will be available for a maximum period of seven years. Further, credit guarantee coverage will be available for eligible borrowers from this financing facility under the Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) scheme for a loan up to Rs. 2 crores. The fee for this coverage will be paid by the Government. In the case of FPOs, the credit guarantee may be availed from the facility created under the FPO promotion scheme of the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare (DACFW).
• The total outflow as budgetary support from Government of India (GoI) will be Rs.10,736 crore:
• The moratorium for repayment under this financing facility may vary subject to a minimum of 6 months and a maximum of 2 years.
• The Project by way of facilitating formal credit to farm and farm processing-based activities is expected to create numerous job opportunities in rural areas.
• Agri Infra fund will be managed and monitored through an online Management Information System (MIS) platform. It will enable all the qualified entities to apply for a loan under the fund. The online platform will also provide benefits such as transparency of interest rates offered by multiple banks, scheme details including interest subvention and credit guarantee offered, minimum documentation, faster approval process as also integration with other scheme benefits.
• The National, State, and District level Monitoring Committees will be set up to ensure real-time monitoring and effective feedback.
• The duration of the Scheme shall be from FY2020 to FY2029 (10 years).

Source: PIB

4) Exiled Uyghurs approach International Criminal Court seeking justice against China

• Uighur exiles urged the International Criminal Court on Monday to investigate Beijing for genocide and crimes against humanity, the first-ever attempt to use international law to hold China’s ruling Communist Party accountable for its draconian crackdown on the minority.
• A team of London-based lawyers representing two Uighur activist groups has filed a complaint against Beijing for pursuing the repatriation of thousands of Uighurs
• Through unlawful arrests in or deportation from Cambodia and Tajikistan. The case could bring greater international scrutiny of the Chinese state’s power to impose its will beyond its borders.
• The lawyers’ 80-page filing includes a list of more than 30 Chinese officials they said were responsible for the campaign, including Xi Jinping, the Communist Party leader.
• Mr. Xi’s policies over recent years have put Muslim minorities in China’s western region of Xinjiang under a pervasive net of surveillance, detention, and social re-engineering. As many as one million ethnic Uighurs and members of other Muslim minorities have been held in internment camps in the region, drawing growing global condemnation.

Source: Wion

5) China makes the new claim in the eastern border with Bhutan

• WITH CHINA making new territorial claims in its eastern border with Bhutan this week, there is considerable disquiet in Delhi.
• Beijing made this claim while objecting to a request to develop the Sakteng wildlife sanctuary in eastern Bhutan’s Trashigang district at an online meeting of the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
• Set up in 1992, GEF is a US-based global body to finance projects in the environment sector.
• Bhutan objected to the Chinese claim, and the GEF council passed the project for funding.
• The GEF, according to sources, rejected the Chinese claim and approved the project but the views of both parties were reflected in the minutes.
• The matter came to a head as China had made the territorial claim at the 58th GEF Council meeting on June 2 and 3.
• According to the published minutes of the council meeting, the Chinese representative said, “in light of the Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary in the project ID 10561 is located in the China-Bhutan disputed areas which are on the agenda of China-Bhutan boundary talk, China opposes and does not join the Council decision on this project”.
• To this, the Council member for the Constituency of India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, and Sri Lanka requested that the views of Bhutan be reflected as follows: “Bhutan totally rejects the claim made by the Council Member of China.
• Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary is an integral and sovereign territory of Bhutan and at no point during the boundary discussions between Bhutan and China has it featured as a disputed area”.

Source: The Hindu

6) India's Exports Of Solar Cells, Modules Nearly Double In FY20

• In a major positive development, even as Indian dependence on imported solar modules and cells continues to be significant, the domestic industry's export of the same in 2019-20 almost doubled from the figure achieved a year before.
• While in value terms the export of Indian solar cells and modules surged from Rs 847 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 1,506 crore in 2019-20, the volume growth was also robust, rising a remarkable 175 percent over the same period, from 2.5 million units to 6.9 million units in the same period.
• Indian players in the sector, like Adani Power, Tata Power Solar, and Waaree have exuded confidence that they can take on the Chinese players in markets abroad if provided with some support.
• It should be noted that about a decade ago, India used to export much larger quantum of solar cells and modules in both volumes and value terms.
• In 2008-09 when the solar movement was beginning in Europe, India had exported solar cells and modules worth $533 million. However, thereafter the Chinese players gained the foothold in the industry driven by their mega-factories which helped them bring down the prices dramatically, from around $1.2 a Watt-peak a decade back, to $0.18 in the present day.

Solar Cell

• A solar cell, or photovoltaic cell, is an electrical device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect, which is a physical and chemical phenomenon.
• It is a form of photoelectric cell, defined as a device whose electrical characteristics, such as current, voltage, or resistance, vary when exposed to light.
• Individual solar cell devices can be combined to form modules, otherwise known as solar panels.
• The common single-junction silicon solar cell can produce a maximum open-circuit voltage of approximately 0.5 to 0.6 volts.
• Solar cells are described as being photovoltaic, irrespective of whether the source is sunlight or artificial light.
• In addition to producing energy, they can be used as a photodetector (for example infrared detectors), detecting light or other electromagnetic radiation near the visible range, or measuring light intensity.

Source: The Hindu

7) IOC, ONGC implementing projects worth Rs 3.57 trillion to boost economy: Govt

• Oil PSUs such as IOC and ONGC are implementing about Rs 3.57 trillion worth of projects across the entire hydrocarbon value chain that will further enhance energy accessibility, create jobs, and boost the economy, the Petroleum Ministry said on Monday.
• In Twitter posts, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said out of Rs 3.57 trillion being spent on 859 projects, over Rs 60,000 crore will be invested during fiscal 2020-21.
• Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and other senior officials of the ministry "reviewed the ongoing oil and gas projects started by PSUs since the resumption of economic activities from April 20, 2020".
• "As on 1st July 2020 work on 859 projects worth about Rs 3.57 trillion involving in refinery, exploration and production, marketing infrastructure, pipelines, city gas distribution network and in the entire value chain of oil and gas is going on in full swing," it said.
• The ministry, however, did not give a time frame for the investment of Rs 3.57 trillion.
• These oil & gas projects will further enhance energy accessibility, create new employment opportunities, and give stimulus to economic growth

Source: Business Standard

8) WHO acknowledges ‘evidence emerging’ of airborne spread of the virus

• Coronavirus Global Updates: The novel coronavirus has claimed the lives of over 5.3 lakh (538,780) people worldwide, while over 11.64 (11,645,109) million have contracted the infection so far. Since it was first reported in China, the virus has spread to over 210 countries and territories in the last six months.
• WHO acknowledges ‘evidence emerging’ of airborne spread of virus The World Health Organization, in a media briefing, Tuesday acknowledged “evidence emerging” of the airborne spread of the novel coronavirus, after a group of scientists urged the global body to update its guidance on how the respiratory disease passes between people, Reuters reported.
• “We have been talking about the possibility of airborne transmission and aerosol transmission as one of the modes of transmission of COVID-19,”

Source: The Hindu

9) White Dwarf Stars Act as a Source of Carbon, Help Support Life in the Universe

• Do you often wonder about how life exists in the Universe and what acts as a constant source for this?
• Scientists have been digging answers to this question since time immemorial. Now, in a new study, they have finally established that white dwarf stars help as a key source for carbon, which in turn supports life in the Universe, including the Milky Way and other galaxies.
• When a star dies in the universe, it leaves behind something that helps in supporting life thereafter.
• While some of these stars turn into a black hole or a neutron, others become white dwarfs.
• Notably, a star dies every second in the universe.
• These white dwarfs are hot and dense initially, with a temperature as high as 100,000 Kelvin.
• However, as time passes, these stars cool and shed their outer material. Their ashes contain chemical elements, including carbon, which is considered as a key element in the formation of life.
• White dwarfs in open star clusters in the Milky Way noted From the analysis of the observed Keck spectra, it was possible to measure the masses of the white dwarfs.
• Using the theory of stellar evolution, we were able to trace back to the progenitor stars and derive their masses at birth

White dwarf

• White dwarf stars, so-called because of the white color of the first few that were discovered, are characterized by a low luminosity, a mass on the order of that of the Sun, and a radius comparable to that of Earth.
• A white dwarf, also called a degenerate dwarf, is a stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter.
• A white dwarf is very dense: its mass is comparable to that of the Sun, while its volume is comparable to that of Earth. A white dwarf's faint luminosity comes from the emission of stored thermal energy; no fusion takes place in a white dwarf.
• The nearest known white dwarf is Sirius B, at 8.6 light-years, the smaller component of the Sirius binary star.
• There are currently thought to be eight white dwarfs among the hundred star systems nearest the Sun.
• The unusual faintness of white dwarfs was first recognized in 1910. The name white dwarf was coined by Willem Luyten in 1922.
• White dwarfs are thought to be the final evolutionary state of stars whose mass is not high enough to become a neutron star.
• The material is a white dwarf no longer undergoes fusion reactions, so the star has no source of energy. As a result, it cannot support itself by the heat generated by fusion against gravitational collapse but is supported only by electron degeneracy pressure, causing it to be extremely dense.
• A white dwarf is very hot when it forms, but because it has no source of energy, it will gradually cool as it radiates its energy.
• The star's low temperature means it will no longer emit significant heat or light, and it will become a cold black dwarf. Because the length of time it takes for a white dwarf to reach this state is calculated to be longer than the current age of the universe ( 13.8 billion years), it is thought that no black dwarfs yet exist.
• The oldest white dwarfs still radiate at temperatures of a few thousand kelvins.

Source: Science Daily

10) NASA plans to send the first woman on Moon by 2024 under Artemis program

• NASA has tweeted that the structural tests on an identical test version of Orion spacecraft has been completed. The NASA Orion is the spacecraft that will take astronauts to the Moon and back on Artemis I.
• According to a statement issued by NASA, before it actually allowed astronauts to fly the Orion on the Artemis missions, engineers needed to make sure that the spacecraft would be able to withstand the stresses of launch, climb to orbit, harsh conditions of deep space transit, and return to Earth.
• The statement mentions that in June 2020, engineers were able to complete testing a duplicate of Orion called the Structural Test Article, or STA.

Artemis program

• The Artemis program is an ongoing US government-funded crewed spaceflight program that has the goal of landing "the first woman and the next man" on the Moon, specifically at the lunar south pole region by 2024.
• The program is carried out predominantly by NASA, U.S. commercial spaceflight companies contracted by NASA, and international partners such as the European Space Agency (ESA).
• NASA is leading the program but expects international partnerships to play a key role in advancing Artemis as the next step towards the long-term goal of establishing a sustainable presence on the Moon, laying the foundation for private companies to build a lunar economy, and eventually sending humans to Mars.

Nanocrystal

• A nanocrystal is a material particle having at least one dimension smaller than 100 nanometres, based on quantum dots (a nanoparticle) and composed of atoms in either a single- or poly-crystalline arrangement.
• The size of the nanocrystals distinguishes them from larger crystals. For example, silicon nanocrystals can provide efficient light emission while bulk silicon does not and may be used for memory components.
• When embedded in solids, nanocrystals may exhibit much more complex melting behavior than conventional solids and may form the basis of a special class of solids.
• They can behave as single-domain systems (a volume within the system having the same atomic or molecular arrangement throughout) that can help explain the behavior of macroscopic samples of a similar material without the complicating presence of grain boundaries and other defects.
• Semiconductor nanocrystals having dimensions smaller than 10 nm are also described as quantum dots.

Source: NASA

11) 151 Trains proposed to be run by Private operators

• Ministry of Railways has recently invited Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for private participation for the operation of passenger train services over 109 Origin-Destination(OD) pairs of routes through the introduction of 151 modern Trains (Rakes).
• 151 Trains to be run by Private operators once the selection process is over, would be over and above the already existing trains.
• These trains are going to run on the routes where there the demand for trains is already higher than the existing capacity...
• The driver and guard of the trains will Railway officials. The safety clearance of trains will be done by Railways only.
• The 109 OD Pairs have been formed into 12 Clusters across the Indian Railway network. Each Train shall have a minimum of 16 coaches.
• The project would entail a private sector investment of about Rs 30,000 crore. This is the first initiative of private investment for running Passenger Trains over the Indian Railways network.
• Majority of Trains to be manufactured in India (Make in India). The private entity shall be responsible for financing, procuring, operation, and maintenance of the trains.
• Trains shall be designed for a maximum speed of 160 kmph. There would be a substantial reduction in journey time. The running time taken by a train shall be comparable to or faster than the fastest train of Indian Railways operating in the respective route.
• The objective of this initiative is to introduce modern technology rolling stock with reduced maintenance, reduced transit time, boost job creation, provide enhanced safety, provide world-class travel experience to passengers, and also reduce the demand-supply deficit in the passenger transportation sector.
• The Private Entity shall pay to Indian Railways fixed haulage charges, energy charges as per actual consumption and a share in Gross Revenue determined through a transparent bidding process.
• The operation of the trains by the private entity shall conform to the key performance indicators like punctuality, reliability, upkeep of trains, etc.
• The objective of this initiative is to introduce modern technology rolling stock with reduced maintenance, reduced transit time, boost job creation, provide enhanced safety, provide world-class travel experience to passengers, and also reduce the demand-supply deficit in the passenger transportation sector.
• The Private Entity shall pay to Indian Railways fixed haulage charges, energy charges as per actual consumption and a share in Gross Revenue determined through a transparent bidding process.
• Indian Railways network is about 68,000 route kilometers. In the year 2018-19, the reserved passenger volume was 16% (0.59 billion) of the total originating non- suburban passengers (3.65 billion).  Almost 8.85 crores of waitlisted passengers could not be accommodated.
• Ministry of Railways felt the requirement to introduce private participation in passenger train operation which will allow the introduction of next-generation technology and provision of higher service quality, ensuring the use of improved coach technology and reduced journey time. In this direction, RFQ has been already invited to permit private entities to undertake passenger trains operations.
• These train services would be operated on the Indian Railway Network where at present both passenger and freight trains are being operated on the common track. The major trunk routes are saturated and operate at near full capacity. However, with planned commissioning of Dedicated Freight Corridors in 2021 and other infrastructural works, there would be the availability of additional paths for the operation of additional passenger services and it would, therefore, be possible to run additional services utilizing modern trains proposed in the current initiative.
• The private entities for undertaking the project would be selected through a two-stage competitive bidding process comprising of Request for Qualification (RFQ) and Request for Proposal (RFP). RFQ process will be for pre-qualification and shortlisting of the bidders will be based on their financial capacity, who will be required to offer a share in the Gross Revenue at RFP stage (bid parameter) for undertaking the project.

Source: PIB