Comprehensive Current affairs 19 October 2020

 Government considers 30% allocation for neglected sections of northeast.

Indian Minister Jitendra Singh has said that an exclusive 30 per cent allocation has been decided for neglected sections of North East. Yesterday

Mr.Singh was speaking to a Chakma delegation represented by ‘Committee for Citizenship Rights of the Chakma and Hajong’ of Arunachal Pradesh. He said that the North Eastern Council affiliated to the Ministry of DoNER had, on the advice of Indian Home Minister , moved a proposal which was approved at the Cabinet Meeting.

He said, accordingly, it has been decided that 30 percent of North Eastern Council's allocations for new projects under the existing schemes will be devoted for focus development of deprived areas and emerging sectors of the North Eastern States.

Indian global hunger rank index slips further.

India has the highest prevalence of wasted children under five years in the world, which reflects acute undernutrition, according to the Global Hunger Index 2020. The situation has worsened in the 2015-19 period, when the prevalence of child wasting was 17.3%, in comparison to 2010-14, when it was 15.1%.

Overall, India ranks 94 out of 107 countries in the Index, lower than neighbours such as Bangladesh (75) and Pakistan (88). 2020 scores reflect data from 2015-19. The Index, which was released on Friday, is a peer-reviewed report released annually by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe.

It uses four parameters to determine its scores. India fares worst in child wasting (low weight for height, reflecting acute undernutrition) and child stunting (low height for age, reflecting chronic undernutrition), which together make up a third of the total score.

Although it is still in the poorest category, however, child stunting has actually improved significantly, from 54% in 2000 to less than 35% now. Child wasting, on the other hand, has not improved in the last two decades, and is rather worse than it was decade ago.

Kamdhenu Deepawali Abhiyan.

Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog (RKA) has started a nation- wide campaign to celebrate Kamdhenu Deepawali Abhiyan this year on the occasion of Deepawali festival.

• It is encouraged by the response to Gaumaya Ganesha Campaign which encouraged usage of eco-friendly material in manufacture of idols for the Ganesha Festival.

• Through this campaign, the RKA is promoting extensive use of cow-dung/ Panchgavya products during this Diwali Festival.

• Manufacture of Cow dung based Diyas, Candles, Dhoop, Agarbatti, Shubh-Labh, Swastik,Samrani, Hardboard, Wall-piece, Paper-weight, Havan samagri, Idols of Lord Ganesha and Goddess Lakshmi for this year’s Diwali festival has already started.

• RKA aims reaching 11 crore families to ignite 33 crore Diyas made of cow-dung during this year’s Deepawali festival.

 • Apart from generating business opportunities to thousands of cow -based entrepreneurs / farmers / women entrepreneurs, the use of cow-dung products will lead to cleaner and healthier environment.

• It will help in making Gaushalas ‘Atma Nirbhar’ too.

• By providing an environment friendly alternative to Chinese made Diyas, the campaign will boost up Make in India vision and also promote ‘Swadeshi’ movement while reducing environmental damage.

• Various segments of stakeholders like farmers, manufacturers, entrepreneurs, Gaushalas and other concerned are being involved at large to make the campaign of Kamdhenu Deepawali a grand success.

Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog (RKA):

• Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog (RKA) has been constituted in 2019 for the conservation,protection and development of cows and their progeny and for giving direction to the cattle development programmes.

RKA is high powered permanent body to formulate policy and to provide direction to the implementation of schemes related to cattle so as to give more emphasis on livelihood generation.

• Rashtriya Kamdhenu Aayog functions as an integral part of Rashtriya Gokul Mission.

• The Aayog reviews existing laws, policies as well as suggest measures for optimum economic utilization of cow wealth for enhanced production and productivity, leading to higher farm income and better quality of life for the dairy farmers.

• Livestock economy sustains nearly 73 million households in rural areas. Even though, the country is largest producer of milk, the average milk yield in India is only 50% of the world average.

• The low productivity is largely due to deterioration in genetic stock, poor nutrition and unscientific management.

 • RKA is trying to implement the vision of Prime Minister for ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’. The Cow-centric economy can also help in achieving this goal by making its own humble contribution. For this purpose, RKA has been consistently endeavouring to increase the use of various cow- panchgavya products to raise the income of farmers, gaupalaks, youth,women, self-help groups and other stakeholders.

School Closure may Cost India adversely.

The extended closure of schools amid the COVID-19 pandemic could dent India’s future earnings, as depleted learning levels of students will translate into poorer productivity

.• As many as 5.5 million students could drop out of schools across South Asia, combined with substantial learning losses for those who remain enrolled in schools, would cost South Asia as much as $622 billion in future earnings and Gross Domestic Product.

• World Bank said these in its latest South Asia report titled “Beaten or broken: Informality and COVID-19”.

Highlights of the Report:

• Far-reaching impact: South Asian governments spend only $400 billion a year on primary and secondary education, so the total loss in economic output would be substantially higher.

• Far-reaching impact:

South Asian governments spend only $400 billion a year on primary and secondary education, so the total loss in economic output would be substantially higher.

• During the first quarter of FY21, the current account turned to a surplus, as a large decline in imports more than offset a drop in exports.

• With significant net foreign investment inflows, foreign reserves reached USD 534.5 billion at end-July, equivalent to more than 13 months of FY20 imports.

 • Following a sharp depreciation in March, the rupee has gradually regained its value against major currencies but remains slightly weaker than at the start of the year.

• The growth slowdown in FY20 and the contraction in early FY21 have impaired revenue collection.

• Thus, after increasing to 7.6 percent in FY20, the general government deficit is believed to have increased further during the first half of FY21.

• More recent household survey data indicate significant disruptions to jobs due to COVID-19 that likely boosted the poverty rate, with 2020 rates back to levels overserved in 2016.

• The labour force participation rate was 3.2 percentage points lower in the last week of August than in the months leading up to the lockdown.

• Between the last four months of 2019 and May-August 2020, the proportion of people working in urban and rural areas fell by 4.2 and 3.8 percentage points, respectively.

• Overall, the pandemic has likely raised urban poverty, creating a set of “new poor” characterized by non-farm employment and secondary or tertiary education.

• The COVID-19 shock will lead to a long-lasting inflexion in India’s fiscal trajectory.

Study finds World experiencing rising rates of chronic disease, public health failures.

The world is experiencing rising rates of chronic disease, persistent infectious diseases and public health failures that have fuelled deaths in the COVID-19 pandemic. This has been highlighted in a major global study on human health published in The Lancet Medical Journal .

The Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 analysed the burden of 369 diseases and injuries on human health in 204 countries and territories, in the past 30 years. Speaking on the occasion, WHO Chief Dr.TedrosGhebreyesus cited the report to highlight the increasing incidence of non-communicable diseases around the world and the toll it takes on human lives, especially during pandemics like COVID-19.

He called upon all nations to join hands to build robust healthcare infrastructure to fight with future pandemics.

Jacinda ardern wins landslide victory in New Zealand general elections

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern won in New Zealand’s general elections. With 87 per cent of the vote counted, Ardern’s Labour Party won a landslide victory with 49 per cent support, heading to its biggest share of the vote since the 1930s. The opposition National Party slumped to 27per cent.

•With this, Ardern led centre-left Labour Party secures a second term after her success in tackling the Coronavirus situation in the country. JacindaArdern's victory is regarded as voters' reward for her decisive response to COVID-19.

•Ardern has captured the hallowed center ground in New Zealand politics with a blend of empathetic leadership and skilled crisis management that has also won her fame abroad.

•Ardern came out of her home in Auckland, waved and hugged gathered supporters. Opposition National Party leader Judith Collins called the result outstanding and said she congratulated Ardern over the call.

Finance ministry participates in World Bank Development Committee Plenary.

Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman participated in 102nd meeting of the World Bank Development Committee Plenary through video conference.

In her intervention at this session, Sitharaman said that COVID -19 Pandemic continues to impact the developing and developed countries till date and the hard fought gains in reducing the level of poverty, achieved over a number of years, are at risk of being lost.

She said, the Government of India has taken several measures to contain the spread of pandemic, and also to mitigate its social and economic impact. Mrs Sitharaman shared that the Government has announced the first stimulus of 23 billion dollar to provide direct cash transfers and food security measures to the poor.

She also mentioned that the Government has committed 2.03 Billion dollar for strengthening health infrastructure in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.

The Finance Minister stated that collective action is the key for effective response to the pandemic and welcomed the strong performance in quarter - 4 of financial year 2020 wherein World Bank Group has committed 45 billion dollar for COVID-19 response.

Startups in country to get access to science & technology infrastructure .

Startups and industries will soon have access to equipment and science and technology infrastructure in different institutions, Universities, and Colleges spread all over the country to carry out experiments and tests they require for their Research and Development.

The Science and Technology Ministry said, restructuring will help them carry out experiments and tests required for their Research and Development, technology and product development.

The Department of Science and Technology is restructuring its FIST (Fund for Improvement of Science and Technology Infrastructure in Universities and Higher Educational institutions) programme under which it supports scaling up of the network of infrastructural facilities for teaching and research in Universities and higher educational institutions.

The BepiColombo Space Craft crosses past Venus.

The BepiColombo Space Craft has crossed the Venus in its journey towards Mercury. The spacecraft was launched jointly by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and European Space Agency to explore planet Mercury.

BepiColombo was launched on the Ariane 5 rocket and will arrive Mercury in 2025. This Mission is a part of the Horizon 2000+ Programme by the European Space Agency. This was the last spacecraft of the programme.

 The BepiColombo spacecraft consists of two satellites launched namely, Mercury Planetary Orbiter and Mercury MagnetosphericOrbiter. These two satellites were launched together. They will separate once they arrive Mercury.

This spacecraft mission has been launched to explore and study the mercury. The spacecraft would be studying the characterisation of magnetosphere and the external and surface magnetic field of the mercury. It will study the solid and liquid cores of mercury and perform magnetic and gravitational field mappings there.

Mount Kilimanjaro fire brakeout.

A Fire that has recently broken out on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa. Its causes is not clear but strong winds and dry weather have caused it to spread fast.

Highlights:

• It is located in Tanzania, Mount Kilimanjaro is Africa’s tallest mountain at about 5,895 Meters. It is also the largest free-standing mountain rise in the world, meaning it is not part of a mountain range. It is a strato volcano or composite volcano a term for a very large volcano made of layers of ash, lava, and rock, and is made up of three cones Kibo,Mawenzi, and Shira.

• Kibo is the summit of the mountain and the tallest of the three volcanic formations. While Mawenzi and Shira are extinct, Kibo is dormant and could possibly erupt again. Scientists estimate that the last time it erupted was 3,60,000 years ago.

• It is also known for its snow-capped peak which might disappear within the next 20 years or so as per the warnings by the scientists. The mountain and its six surrounding forest corridors were named Kilimanjaro National Park in order to protect its unique environment. The park was named a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage site in 1987. It is a popular tourist destination and tens of thousands of people Climb it Every Year.