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Friday, September 10, 2021

The HINDU Notes – 10th September 2021

20:04

 


📰 BRICS seeks ‘inclusive’ intra-Afghan dialogue

5-member group adopts Counter Terrorism Action Plan.

•The 13th BRICS summit held virtually on Thursday, called for an “inclusive intra-Afghan dialogue” for stability in Afghanistan.

•The virtual summit, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was dominated by the developments in Afghanistan, and adopted the BRICS Counter Terrorism Action Plan.

•“We have also adopted the BRICS Counter Terrorism Action Plan. With the agreement on Remote Sensing Satellite Constellation between our space agencies, a new chapter of cooperation has begun,” Mr. Modi said, highlighting the key items on the agenda of the summit.

•The discussion on Afghanistan at the event attended by the leaders of India, Russia, China, Brazil and South Africa was held in the backdrop of the Taliban announcing an interim government in Kabul.

•The BRICS leaders called for “settling the situation by peaceful means” and condemned the terrorist attacks at the Hamid Karzai International Airport which killed at least 100 persons including several American military personnel.

•“We stress the need to contribute to fostering an inclusive intra-Afghan dialogue so as to ensure stability, civil peace, law and order in the country. We underscore the priority of fighting terrorism, including preventing attempts by terrorist organisations to use Afghan territory as terrorist sanctuary and to carry out attacks against other countries,” declared a joint statement issued at the end of the summit meeting.

•The document, titled the ‘New Delhi Declaration’, also called for addressing the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan and urged the need to uphold rights of women, children and minorities.

•The meeting gave an opportunity to the BRICS countries to discuss the situation in Afghanistan especially as two of the five members of the organisation — Russia and China — continue to have a diplomatic presence in Kabul where a Taliban interim government is expected to take formal charge in few days.

•BRICS countries are evidently divided on the issue of engagement with the Taliban with Russia and China adopting a proactive policy on the issue. A Russian media report informed that the Taliban has invited Turkey, Qatar, China and Iran to the upcoming swearing-in ceremony. China on Thursday extended an emergency aid of $31 million to Afghanistan to help the Taliban run the government.

•The summit emphasised the importance of the principle of “non-interference” in international affairs and said disputes and conflicts should be resolved by peaceful means.

•Explaining India's concerns, Secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs Sanjay Bhattacharya said, “There is a very strong consensus. Afghanistan should not become a reason for problems in the neighbourhood.”

•The summit meeting was also addressed by the South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro, and President Vladimir Putin of Russia, who remarked that Afghanistan has a new crisis.

•“The withdrawal of U.S. forces and its allies from Afghanistan has led to a new crisis, and it’s still unclear how this will affect global and regional security. It is for good reason that our countries have paid special attention to this issue,” said President Putin.

•Apart from Afghanistan, the BRICS leaders also took up the conflicts in Myanmar, Syria, the tension in the Korean peninsula, Israel-Palestine violence and other territorial disputes.

•“We underscore the inadmissibility of the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes and principles of the United Nations,” stated the New Delhi Declaration.

•The summit’also discussed the COVID-19 pandemic and the strategy to strengthen counter-pandemic cooperation and multilateral reform. The New Delhi Declaration called against playing politics with the pandemic and the COVID-19 virus and urged for a global effort to eradicate the virus.

•“We support science-based, inclusive of broad expertise, transparent and timely processes, free from politicisation or interference to strengthen international capabilities to better understand the emergence of novel pathogens and to help prevent future pandemics,” stated the Declaration. The summit called for reform of the UN Security Council and urged to “revitalise” of the UN General Assembly.

📰 Porunai civilisation is 3,200 years old, says M.K. Stalin

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Daily Current Affairs, 10th September 2021

20:00

 


1)  World Suicide Prevention Day: 10 September

•International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) observes World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD) on 10 September every year. The purpose of this day is to raise awareness around the globe that suicide can be prevented. The theme for the 2021 World Suicide Prevention Day is “Creating hope through action”.


2)  India’s first high ash coal gasification based methanol production plant inaugurated

•India’s first indigenously Designed High Ash Coal Gasification Based Methanol Production Plant at Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) Research and Development Centre, Hyderabad was inaugurated. The project was funded by the Department of Science and Technology, which provided a Rs 10 crore grant, at the initiative of NITI Aayog, PMO-India and the Ministry of Coal.


3)  India’s 1st Emergency Landing Facility on National Highway in Rajasthan

•Copy of Shaili Singh wins silver in long jump at World U20 Athletics Championships


•Union Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh and Union Highways Minister, Nitin Gadkari inaugurated the Emergency Landing Facility on a National Highway in Rajasthan. This emergency landing facility has been constructed on the Satta-Gandhav stretch of National Highway (NH) 925A in Barmer, Rajasthan. This is the first time that a national highway (NH-925) will be used for the emergency landing of IAF aircraft. The project will cost ₹765.52 crores under the Bharatmala Pariyojana.


4)  Uttarakhand, Punjab, Tamil Nadu get new governors

•President Ram Nath Kovind has appointed Lt Gen Gurmit Singh, who retired as the deputy chief of Army, governor of Uttarakhand, a post which fell vacant after Baby Rani Maurya tendered her resignation. According to a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique, President Ram Nath Kovind accepted the resignation of Maurya and appointed Singh as the governor of the state.


5)  Cuba becomes first country in world to begin vaccinating toddlers

•Cuba became the first country in the world to vaccinate children from the age of two against COVID-19, using home-grown jabs not recognised by the World Health Organisation. The communist island of 11.2 million people aims to inoculate all its children before reopening schools that have been closed for the most part since March 2020.


•Countries such as China, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela have announced they plan to vaccinate younger children, but Cuba is the first to do so. The Cuban vaccines, the first developed in Latin America, have not undergone international, scientific peer review.


6)  Govt appoints 10 merchant bankers for managing IPO of LIC

•The government of India has appointed 10 merchant bankers for managing the Initial Public Offering of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC). The IPO of LIC is likely to be launched in the January-March quarter of 2022. The role of merchant bankers in the case of IPO is of Issue management, Promotional activities, Credit syndication, Project counselling, and Portfolio management, etc.


7)  Nirlep Singh Rai is new CMD of National Fertilizers Ltd

•State-owned fertiliser firm National Fertilizers Ltd (NFL) has Nirlep Singh Rai has been appointed as Chairman and Managing Director of the company. In a regulatory filing, NFL informed that Nirlep Singh Rai, Director (Technical), has been appointed as Chairman & Managing Director, on the Board of the company with effect from the date of his assumption of charge.


8)  RBI approves re-appointment of V. Vaidyanathan as MD & CEO of IDFC FIRST Bank

•The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has granted its approval for the re-appointment of V. Vaidyanathan as the Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer (‘MD & CEO’) of the IDFC First Bank. Vaidyanathan has been appointed for a further period of three years, which will be effective from December 19, 2021. He first took charge as the MD & CEO of IDFC FIRST Bank in December 2018, after the merger of IDFC Bank and Capital First.


9)  IIT Madras Retains Top Spot in Overall Category of NIRF India Ranking 2021

•The Union Minister of Education, Dharmendra Pradhan released the NIRF India Rankings 2021, on September 09, 2021, through video conferencing. The NIRF India Rankings 2021 is the sixth edition of the annual list which ranks higher educational institutions in the country based on objective criteria to promote competitive excellence. In Overall Winner: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras has retained the top spot in the overall category.


10)  ADB approves $112 million loan to improve water supply in Jharkhand

•Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India have signed a USD 112 million loan to develop water supply infrastructure and strengthen capacities of urban local bodies (ULBs) for improved service delivery in four towns in the state of Jharkhand. This is the first project of ADB in the state of Jharkhand.


•The project will be ADB’s first urban project in the state and help establish a model for continuous water supply combined with policy reforms for the sustainable operation which can be replicated by other low-income states for providing safe drinking water to urban households as envisaged under national Jal Jeevan Mission.

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Sri Lanka’s National ‘food emergency’

08:00

 Why in news?

Sri Lankan government has announced food emergency to check the soaring prices of food and hoarding of essentials by a food mafia. 

What are the issues hampering the Sri Lankan government?

  • Huge foreign debt burden
  • Decline in tourism industry since the 2019 Easter attacks
  • Pandemic hit tea and garment industries
  • Decreasing foreign exchange reserves
  • Devaluation of currency by 10.1% against the dollar this year
  • Imports became costlier
  • Increase in liquidity due to Rs 800 billion printed by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka
  • Sharp spike in inflation
  • Fixation of prices of all essential items made traders reluctant to buy at high prices internationally
  • Restrictive import licensing regime
  • Ban on chemical fertilisers to grow only organic food aggravated the shortage

What is the current emergency about?

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THE HINDU NEWSPAPER IMPORTANT ARTICLES 10.09.2021

07:55
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GS SCORE Yearly Compilation Governance, Programs & Policies Part-2 PDF

07:23

GS SCORE Yearly Compilation Governance, Programs & Policies Part-2 PDF

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Thursday, September 09, 2021

PIB Yearly Compilation Jan 2020 – March 2021 PDF Download

20:30

 PIB Yearly Compilation Jan 2020 – March 2021 PDF Download

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Daily Current Affairs, 09th September 2021

20:24

 


1)  International Day to Protect Education from Attack: 09 September

•International Day to Protect Education from Attack is observed globally on 9th September. In proclaiming the International Day to Protect Education from Attack to be celebrated for the first time in 2020. The purpose of the day is to raise awareness regarding the importance of safeguarding schools as places of protection and safety for students and educators and the need to keep education at the top of the public agenda.


2)  India to host G-20 summit in 2023

•India will hold the G20 presidency from December 1, 2022, and will convene the G20 leaders’ summit in 2023 for the first time. Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Minister has been appointed as India’s Sherpa for the G20 in 2023 (18th edition). A sherpa is a diplomat who undertakes preparatory work prior to a summit conference. The 2021 edition of the G20 meet will be held in Rome, Italy. The 2022 G20 meet will be held in Bali, Indonesia.


3)  Gujarat govt launches Vatan Prem Yojana

•The Government of Gujarat announced, that it plans on undertaking public welfare projects worth Rs. 1,000 crores jointly with non-resident Gujaratis by December 2022. The projects will be under the state government’s ‘Vatan Prem Yojana’. The Yojana was launched in Gujarat focusing on rural development through public and state contributions.


4)  Union Minister Bhupender Yadav inaugurates PRANA portal

•Union Minister of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav launched a portal named PRANA, for the regulation of air pollution in 132 cities across the country. PRANA stands for Portal for Regulation of Air pollution in Non-Attainment cities. The portal (prana.cpcb.gov.in) will support tracking of physical as well as the financial status of city air action plan implementation and disseminate information on air quality to the public.


•The cities which come under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) will be covered. Apart from this, the Union Minister also dedicated the first functional smog tower of India, installed in Anand Vihar in New Delhi to the country.


5)  India’s tallest air purifier tower installed in Chandigarh

•India’s tallest air purification tower has been inaugurated in the Union Territory of Chandigarh. The tower has been installed at the initiative of the Chandigarh Pollution Control Committee (CPCC) at Transport Chowk, Sector 26, by Pious Air Pvt Limited.


•This is the highest air purifier tower of the country and covers an area of around a 500-metre radius and is 24-metre-high. The purification tower will clean 3.88 crore cubic ft of air from the surrounding environment.


6)  AP Govt. appoints former SBI Chairperson Rajnish Kumar as economic advisor

•The Andhra Pradesh government has appointed Rajnish Kumar as its economic advisor. A former SBI chairman, Rajnish Kumar’s tenure in the cabinet rank position is for two years. Rajnish Kumar who had retired as SBI chairman in October 2020, is an independent non-executive director at the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. He joined SBI as a Probationary officer in 1980.


•The appointment comes amid the growing concerns over the state’s financial situation which has been badly hit by the Covid pandemic, even as the opposition has been critical over the sops and freebies being distributed by the Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy-led state government. Rajnish Kumar’s appointment is expected to help the state government steer through the financially tough juncture.


7)  A book titled “Gita Govinda: Jaydeva’s Divine Odyssey” by Utpal K. Banerjee

•Union Minister of Culture Shri Kishan Reddy Gangapuram has launched a book titled “Gita Govinda: Jaydeva’s Divine Odyssey” authored by Dr Utpal K. Banerjee. The book is the first-ever fully-rhymed translation of the book GeetaGovindam by great 12th-century poet Jayadeva.


•Union Minister also launched a programme named ‘BujurgonkiBaat–DeshKeSaath’ that aims at enhancing the interaction between the youth and the elder persons who are 95 years and above and thus have spent around 18 years in India before independence.


8)  S&P Global Ratings Projects India’s GDP for FY22 at 9.50%

•S&P Global Ratings has revised India’s growth forecast and now expects the economy to grow 9.5 per cent in 2021-22 (FY22) and 7.0 per cent in 2022-23 (FY23). India’s external position is very strong and this is quite supportive of India’s sovereign rating despite the fact that we have had this deterioration in fiscal position concurrently. India is expected to post strong economic growth in the coming quarters, even as inflation, led by food prices, is likely to remain elevated.


9)  RBI removes lending curbs on UCO Bank

•Reserve Bank of India has taken public sector lender UCO Bank out of the Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework on improvement in financial and credit profile. This decision gives the bank more freedom for lending, especially to corporations and grow the network, subject to prescribed norms. The Kolkata-based lender was placed under PCA in May 2017 on account of high Net Net-Performing Assets (NPAs) and negative Return on Assets (RoAs).


•Following UCO Bank’s exit, two banks — Indian Overseas Bank and Central Bank of India — remain under PCA. The central bank uses the PCA framework to rein in banks that have breached certain regulatory thresholds in bad loans and capital adequacy. PCA entails curbs on high-risk lending, setting aside more money on provisions and restrictions on management salary.


10)  Guinness World Records recognise Ronaldo for most goals scored

•Portuguese captain Cristiano Ronaldo has broken the world record for most goals scored in men’s international football. Ronaldo surpassed Iranian striker Ali Daei’s long-held record of 109 international goals by scoring a brace against Ireland in a World Cup Qualifier. Ronaldo at 36 years of age is now a Guinness world record holder of most international goals of all time with 111 goals.


•The Guinness world book of records has recognised Cristiano Ronaldo as a world record breaker for the most goals scored in international football (soccer) matches scored by an individual (male). Ronaldo achieved the feat scoring goals for his native Portugal between 2003 and 2021 proactively over a span of 18 years with a career still going strong as he looks to overcome yet another new challenge after his move away from Turin with a year left on his contract with the Bianconeri.

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The HINDU Notes – 09th September 2021

20:12

 


📰 India, Russia review Afghanistan situation

New Delhi raises issues of Pakistan’s links with the new Taliban regime, JeM and LeT in the talks

•India and Russia conducted their first “detailed and extensive review” of the situation in Afghanistan, agreeing to coordinate their positions at the United Nations, as a delegation led by Russia’s Security Council Secretary General Nikolai Patrushev met National Security Adviser Ajit Doval in Delhi, officials said.

•During the meeting that came a week after Russia decided to abstain from a UN Security Council Resolution on Afghanistan under India’s presidency, the two sides stressed areas of “convergence”, including the need to hold the Taliban to their promises thus far, the threat of terrorism from international terror groups inside Afghanistan, flow of weapons, radicalisation and increase in opium production and drug trafficking under the new regime.

•“[Mr. Doval and Gen Patrushev] touched upon humanitarian and migration problems in [Afghanistan], as well as prospects for the Russian-Indian joint efforts aimed at creating conditions for launching a peaceful settlement process on the basis of an intra-Afghan dialogue,” a statement issued by the Russian Embassy in Delhi said, adding that the two sides “agreed to coordinate the approaches of Russia and India in multilateral formats on the Afghan settlement.” The Russian Security chief also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar. Mr. Modi appreciated Gen. Patrushev’s visit “at a time when major changes are taking place in the region”.

•Sources said India raised the issue of Pakistan’s links with Taliban, international terror groups, and the Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, believed to be operating in Afghanistan as well, in the talks with the Russian delegation.

•The Indian delegation also raised the “special responsibility that Pakistan bears to ensure that Afghanistan soil is not used to spread terrorism,” the sources said. Significantly, neither side gave any indication of talks on the status of the Haqqani Network, a UNSC-designated terror group that has carried out attacks on the Indian Embassy and consulates in Afghanistan, whose leader Sirajuddin Haqqani has been named the Interior Minister of the new regime. The talks followed a day after CIA Director William Burns flew into Delhi to meet Mr. Doval, reported by The Hindu .

•The U.S. has been discussing the issue of housing its Afghan evacuees who are being processed in other countries, the emerging terror threat from developments in Afghanistan and any future engagement with the Taliban government, now headed by Mohammed Hassan Akhund, who is also on the list of UNSC-designated terrorists.

•The Modi government has thus far maintained an independent posture from both the U.S. and Russian stands on the Taliban regime, deciding to close down its embassy in Kabul unlike Russia, China and other countries that kept their missions open.

•In an interview to RIA Novosti on Tuesday, Ambassador to Russia Venkatesh Verma said the results of the U.S.’s Doha Agreement and the Russia-led Troika plus talks which included the U.S., China and Pakistan had not been “matched by subsequent developments” in Afghanistan.

•On Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will host Russian President Vladimir Putin and leaders of China, Brazil and South Africa for the BRICS summit in a virtual format.

📰 Panel to frame new drugs, cosmetics and medical device laws

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Refining the Reservation Policy

08:51

 What is the issue?

Recently there has been series of changes to the way reservation is implemented.

What changes were made recently?

  • Tamil Nadu Assembly has adopted a Bill to provide 10.5% reservation for Vanniyars within the quota of MBCs and Denotified Communities (DNCs) in admission to higher education and government services.
  • Relying on the 102nd  Constitution Amendment, Supreme Court reiterated that States did not have the power to identify “socially and educationally backward” classes (SEBCs)
  • This forced the Centre to pass the 105th Amendment which again empowers States or Union Territories to prepare their own lists of SEBCs
  • The Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006  provided for uniform 27% reservation to OBCs which was implemented in all the Central Educational Institutions
  • However, this was not extended to the AIQ seats of State medical and dental colleges
  • From this year onwards, 27% of all-India quota for admissions for medical and dental courses will be reserved for OBCs and 10% for EWS

What are the implications of the recent changes?

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Insights IAS Editorial August 2021 PDF

08:40

 Insights IAS Editorial August 2021 PDF

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