Thursday, October 17, 2019

The HINDU Notes – 17th October 2019

📰 ‘Xi mooted trilateral ties with India, Pak.’

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi says the nations should not be influenced by a third party

•Within days of the second India-China “informal summit”, Chinese Foreign Minister and State Councilor Wang Yi has said that Chinese President Xi Jinping had shared with Prime Minister Narendra Modi his vision for trilateral cooperation among Beijing, New Delhi and Islamabad.

•“In Chennai, President Xi Jinping had in-depth communication on the regional situation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and encouraged all parties concerned to solve the current issues through dialogue,” Mr. Wang told presspersons who had travelled to India and Nepal to cover Mr. Xi’s October 11-13 visit.

•“President Xi Jinping stressed the Chinese side sincerely expects sound China-India relations, China-Pakistan relations and India-Pakistan relations, and expects to see all sides work together to promote regional peace and stability, and achieve common development and prosperity.”

•Advocating a trilateral approach, Mr. Wang said that none of the three countries — China, India or Pakistan — should target or be influenced by a “third party”.

•“China’s respective relations with India, Pakistan and other South Asian countries, with respective unique history and characteristics, can run in parallel and develop together, neither targeting any third party nor being influenced by a third party,” he said.

•In a veiled reference to Kashmir after India scrapped special status for Jammu and Kashmir, Mr. Wang said “the recent strained India-Pakistan relations and unrest and turbulence in the region have drawn grave concerns from the international community.”

In-depth communication

•China’s top diplomat also spotlighted the fact that prior to his visit to India and Nepal, “President Xi Jinping listened to the views and propositions of the Pakistani side in his meeting with Prime Minister Imran Kha of Pakistan.” Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa, and head of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt. Gen. Faiz Hameed had arrived separately in Beijing between October 7 and 8 and departed just before Mr. Xi embarked for Chennai on October 11.

•“Both India and Pakistan are friendly neighbours of China, and the Chinese side hopes that the two countries can properly manage and control differences and improve their relations, “ Mr. Wang said.

•The Chinese Foreign Minister stressed that the Chinese President had elaborated on enhancing the “China-India Plus” formulation, which could be gradually expanded to cover other countries in South Asia, Southeast Asia and Africa on the basis of the existing “China-India-Afghanistan” cooperation.

📰 Agents of change: On investing in women’s education

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BPSC 65th prelims: Cut off expected

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BPSC Expected Cut off 2019 - Prelims

Candidates can check the expected cut off of 65th BPSC prelims exam from the table below:

THE HINDU NEWSPAPER IMPORTANT ARTICLES 17.10.2019

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FRONT PAGE

J&K lockdown: why govt has still not produced orders concerned, asks SC

NATIONAL

Xi mooted trilateral partnership with Pak.

President Ram Nath Kovind to be in Japan for emperor’s enthronement

With Chief of Defence Staff due, Army feels need for a Joint Services Act

Govt. officials violate RTI Act with impunity, says CIC

INTERNATIONAL

U.S. House passes Hong Kong 'Democracy Act'

China leases an entire Pacific island for 75 years

OPINION

Taking national data seriously

In Haryana, it’s BJP versus the rest

The operative word must be bilateralism

Not green, but greenwash

Restoring maritime commons

Refusing to recuse

Agents of change

Promoting powerlooms

LIFE

India ranks 102 in hunger index

Daily Current Affairs, 16th October 2019

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1) World Food Day: 16 October

•World Food Day is celebrated every year around the world on 16 October in honor of the date of the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in 1945. The theme for WFD 2019 is “Our Actions Are Our Future”.

•This day generates awareness globally for those who suffer from hunger and to ensure the need for food security and nutritious diets for all. The main focus of this day is that food is a basic and fundamental human right.

2) Govt launches Food Safety Mitra Scheme

•Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Harsh Vardhan launched Food Safety Mitra Scheme, Eat Right Jacket and Eat Right Jhola. Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has introduced the scheme of Food Safety Mitra (FSM) through which it plans to engage motivated individuals with the food safety ecosystem at ground level.

•A Food Safety Mitra Scheme is an individual professional certified by FSSAI who assists in compliances related to FSS Act, Rules & Regulations with three avatars- Digital Mitra, Trainer Mitra and Hygiene Mitra depending upon their respective roles and responsibilities. During the event, the Minister also launched Eat Right Jhola which is a reusable, washable and bio-degradable bag. Eat Right Smart Jacket has been introduced to giving an identity to FSSAI staff to ensure transparent inspection. It’s embedded with an RFID tag and QR code.

3) Indian Railways to become net zero carbon emitter by 2030

•Indian Railways (IR) has announced that it will become a net-zero carbon emitter by 2030. The move will be a part of India’s strategy to combat climate change. The announcement was made by railways and commerce minister Piyush Goyal at the India Energy Forum by CERAWEEK in New Delhi. India is the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases after the US and China, and is among countries most vulnerable to climate change.

•Indian railways is the world’s largest railway network. It has a rail network of around 1,25,000km under single management. IR is to go green by setting up solar power generation capacities in its large tracts of land along its network.

4) UP Culture Dept to organise training & performance programme of KHON Ramlila

•The Culture Department of Uttar Pradesh government is going to organise the country’s first training and performance programme of world-famous KHON Ramlila, a masked form of Ramlila art of Thailand in collaboration with the Thai government.

•KHON Ramlila of Thailand is included in the list of UNESCO’s Intangible cultural heritage and it’s a form of masked dance depicting the scenes of Ramlila. It has no dialogues and background voices narrate the whole story of Ramayana. KHON Ramlila’s performance is also a visual delight famous for its beautiful attire and golden masks.

5) CBIC launches programme to strengthen Make in India

•Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs has launched a revamped and streamlined programme to attract investments into India and strengthen Make in India through manufacture and other operations under the bond scheme, of Customs Act, 1962.

•The Section enables conduct of manufacture and other operations in a customs bonded warehouse. The scheme has been modernized with clear and transparent procedures, simplified compliance requirements ICT-based documentation and account keeping, by the issue of Manufacture and Other Operations in Warehouse Regulations 2019.

•CBIC has collaborated with Invest India to launch a dedicated microsite for providing information and promoting the scheme and for the facilitation of investors. The site can be accessed at www.investindia.gov.in/bonded-manufacturing.

6) Kishan Dan Dewal concurrently accredited as the next Ambassador of India to Georgia

•Kishan Dan Dewal (IFS officer of 2003 batch), has been concurrently accredited as the next Ambassador of India to Georgia. He will replace Yogeshwar Sangwan. Dewal is presently serving as Ambassador of India to the Republic of Armenia.

7) J.P.S. Chawla assumes charge as new Controller General of Accounts

•Government of India has appointed J. P. S. Chawla, (1985-batch Indian Civil Accounts Service (ICAS) Officer) as the new Controller General of Accounts (CGA), Ministry of Finance, Department of Expenditure. He will replace Girraj Prasad Gupta.

•Prior to assuming the charge of CGA, Chawla served as Principal Chief Controller of Accounts, Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) where he was instrumental in the finalisation of the accounting procedure and operationalisation of GST Network (GSTN) before the national rollout of GST. He also played a key role in the integration of the IGST refund payment network of CBIC with the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) as part of the Government of India’s decision to digitise all Government receipts and payments through the PFMS portal of the Office of Controller General of Accounts.

8) Anoop Kumar Mendiratta appointed as new Law Secretary

•Anoop Kumar Mendiratta has been appointed as the new Law Secretary (Secretary, Legal Affairs) in the Union Law Ministry. He is presently the District and Sessions Judge, North-East District, Karkardooma Courts, Delhi. He will serve in the position till 30 March 2023, or until he attains the age of 60.

9) India wins four UNESCO heritage awards

•The UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation awards were announced at a ceremony held in Penang, Malaysia. 4 heritage landmarks from India were chosen for the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation 2019.

Heritage landmark	Award category	Place
Flora Fountain	Honourable mention	Mumbai
KenesethEliyahoo Synagogue	Award of Merit	Mumbai
Our Lady of Glory Church	Award of Merit	Mumbai
Vikram Sarabhai Library from (IIM)	Award of Distinction	Ahmedabad

•Renewal of Tai Kwun Centre for Heritage and Arts in Hong Kong received the Award of Excellence, which is the highest award among all categories.

9) India ranked 102 in Global Hunger Index 2019

•The 2019 Global Hunger Index (GHI) indicates that the level of hunger and undernutrition worldwide falls into the serious category. As per the index, India ranks 102nd out of 117 qualifying countries, with a score of 30.3.

•India has slipped from 95th rank in 2010 to 102nd in 2019 on the Global Hunger Index (GHI), with the increase in the prevalence of wasting (low weight for height) among children with score under 5 contributing the most to the country’s poor performance. Seventeen countries, including Belarus, Ukraine, Turkey, Cuba and Kuwait, shared the top rank with GHI scores less than 5.

•There were only four countries in the alarming hunger category are Madagascar, Chad, Yemen and the Central African Republic in the extremely alarming hunger category. The report warned that climate change was causing alarming levels of hunger and making it more difficult to feed people in the world’s most vulnerable regions.

•The Global Hunger Index is a peer-reviewed annual report, jointly published by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe, designed to comprehensively measure and track hunger at the global, regional, and country levels. The aim of the GHI is to trigger action to reduce hunger around the world.

10) IMF cuts World and India growth rates

•The World Bank-International Monetary Fund (IMF) annual meetings kicked off on a somber note, with the IMF downgrading global growth in 2019 to 3%, the slowest since the global financial crisis.

•India’s growth projections have also been downgraded to 6.1% and 7.0% in 2019 and 2020 respectively, down by 1.2 percentage points and 0.5 percentage points relative to April projections, owing to weaker than expected domestic demand. India’s growth rate in the April-June quarter had hit 5%, the lowest in six years, as per government data. Consumption, investment and exports were down.

•The IMF projected the U.S. would grow at 2.4% and 2.1% in 2019 and 2020 respectively. For China, growth was projected to grow at 6.1% and 5.8% in 2019 and 2020.

11) Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurates 41st DRDO Directors Conference in New Delhi

•Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the 41st DRDO Directors Conference in New Delhi. Chiefs of the three forces & DRDO Chairman G Satheesh Reddy were also present on the occasion. The discussion included efforts taken by DRDO to ensure technological advancement of the Indian forces to safeguard the country. It was suggested that DRDO can play a significant role in becoming a catalyst in the absorption of technology.

The HINDU Notes – 16th October 2019

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📰 Gujarat, Tamil Nadu top performers under PM-JAY health scheme

States availed treatment worth nearly ₹7,901 crore.

•Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh have emerged as the top performing States with free secondary and tertiary treatment worth nearly ₹7,901 crore availed under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY), the flagship health assurance scheme of the Government in just over a year.

•“Half-a-crore hospital treatments have been provided and there are 9 hospital admissions every minute across India,’’ noted a senior health official.

•Launched last year, the scheme crossed the 50-lakh treatment mark this week with secondary and tertiary level treatments worth ₹7,901 crore being carried out across 32 States and Union Territories.

60% tertiary care

•“More than 60% of the amount spent has been on tertiary care. Cardiology, Orthopaedics, Radiation Oncology, Cardio-thoracic and Vascular Surgery, and Urology have emerged as the top tertiary specialities,’’ explained the health official.