1st Oct Current Affairs News Analysis | Prelims & Mains 2020

Dear Aspirants

IASbhai Current Affairs News Analysis | Prelims & Mains 2020 is an initiative to dilute major articles from leading Newspapers in India which are most relevant to UPSC preparation –‘THE HINDU, LIVEMINT , INDIAN EXPRESS’ and help millions of readers who find difficulty in answer writing and making notes everyday. Hence we choose articles on daily basis and analyse them with respect to UPSC PRELIMS 2020.

The man who says he can, and the man who says he can’t are both correct.– Confucius

HIGHLIGHT INFO:

ORANGE COLOUR: Important for Prelims.

RED COLOUR: Important for Mains.

BLACK COLOUR: Must Read !

BLUE COLOUR : Important Links/Survey.

PINK COLOUR: Reports/Themes/Summits.

Page Contents:

1st Oct Current Affairs News Analysis | Prelims & Mains 2020

Today's Must Read Articles :

LEAGUE FOR PASTORAL PEOPLES REPORT 2020

ASIIM

KUMHAR SASHAKTIKARAN YOJANA

SC refuses to shift civil services exam from Oct. 4

HEADLINES:

SC refuses to shift civil services exam from Oct. 4

WHY IN NEWS:

Court agrees with UPSC on calendar constraints, but asks for concessions

SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 2 : UPSC

ISSUE:

The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to defer the civil services preliminary examination scheduled for October 4

THE VERDICT

The examination is scheduled to be held at 72 centres (2,569 sub-centres) across the country.
A Bench led by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar said security and health protocols should be followed strictly.

SC agreed with the UPSC that further delay of the exam would have a “cascading effect” on future ones.

The UPSC, through advocate Naresh Kaushik, said that its logistical arrangements were complete.
It has requested Chief Secretaries to ensure the running of public transport systems on October 3 and 4.
The Commission said it has already spent approximately ₹50.39 crore on the preparations.
As of September 28, 6,87,648 candidates have downloaded their admit cards.

CASCADING EFFECT

The UPSC said the exam was earlier scheduled for May 31, but then shifted to October 4 due to the pandemic lockdown and restrictions.

Over the years, a cycle has evolved involving recruitment, training and final appointment ensuring that the government gets its requisite manpower on time.

Any disruption at any stage has the potential of upsetting the entire cycle not only for once but is likely to have cascading effects in future as well.

IASbhai WINDUP:

The calendar of examinations for 2021 is already placed on the website in which the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination, 2021 is scheduled to be held on July 27, 2021.

The Commission said in case of any further postponement, it would not be in a position to declare the final result of the 2020 exam before next year’s preliminary examination.

SOURCES:THE HINDU | 1st Oct Current Affairs News Analysis

Ideal weight : Redefined

HEADLINES:

Ideal weight of Indian men, women redefined

WHY IN NEWS:

Decade-old standard of 60 kg and 50 kg revised

SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 1 : 3 : Malnutrition : Health

ISSUE:

The ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) has redefined the ideal or reference Indian adult man and woman with regard to age to 19-39 years instead of 20-39 years.

BODY WEIGHT

The body weight has been put at 65 kg for men and 55 kg for women while earlier, it was 60 kg and 50 kg respectively.

This is based on the latest nationally representative data sourced from the

National Family Health Survey-4 (NFHS-4, 2015-16),
National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau (NNMB, 2015-16)
World Health Organisation (WHO, 2006-07)
Indian Academy of Paediatrics (IAP 2015)

The aim is to “derive acceptable reference body weight values through the lifespan”.

DIETARY INTAKE

Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA) are daily dietary nutrient intake levels .
RDA would be sufficient to meet the nutrient requirements of individuals .

COMPOSITIONS

The cereal-legume-milk composition of the diet for a moderately active man has been improved to 3:1:2.5.
As compared to the earlier 11:1:3 within a given low cost window to meet daily protein requirements.
Visible fat intake for sedentary, moderate and heavy activity has been set at 25 gm, 30 gm and 40 gm a day for adult man and 20 gm, 25 gm and 30 gm a day for adult women as against the single level recommended earlier.

For the first time, fiber based on energy intake was recommended and the level of about 40 gm/2000 kcal has been considered as safe intake.

SOURCES:THE HINDU | 1st Oct Current Affairs News Analysis

CDRI Award 2020

HEADLINES:

CSIR-CDRI felicitates young researchers with CDRI Award for their outstanding contribution in drug discovery and development

WHY IN NEWS:

Dr Bushra Ateeq, Dr Surajit Ghosh and Dr Ravi Manjithaya receive the Prestigious CDRI Award 2020

MINISTRY? :-Ministry of Science & Technology

SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 1 : Awards

ISSUE:

This year’s awards were given to scientists for their outstanding contribution in unfolding the knot of Cancer

CDRI AWARD 2020

The CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI), Lucknow yesterday felicitated young researchers with CDRI Award .
CDRI Awards were instituted in the year 2004.

CDRI Awards promote scientific excellence in the country and to recognize outstanding contribution in the area of Drug Research and Development.

These prestigious awards are given annually to the Indian Nationals below 45 years of age .
These researchers have carried out outstanding research work in the area having direct bearing on Drug Research and Development.

There are two separate individual awards in the area of Chemical Sciences and Life Sciences.

Each award carries a Cash prize of Rs. 20,000/- and a citation.

IASbhai WINDUP:

These awardees are usually nominated by the head of Institutions/Organization/Universities/Industries, Bhatnagar Awardees, Fellows of National Science Academies.
A committee comprising of eminent scientists scrutinize the nomination/application and select the CDRI Awardee.
Since 2004, total 34 scientists (17 outstanding scientists in Chemical Sciences and 17 in Biological Sciences) received this prestigious award for their notable contribution in drug discovery and development research in India.

SOURCES: PIB | 1st Oct Current Affairs News Analysis

Southwest monsoon ends

HEADLINES:

Southwest monsoon ends with 8% surplus

WHY IN NEWS:

India received over 100% of its LPA

SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 1 : Geography

ISSUE:

The southwest monsoon this year has ended with an 8.7% surplus

LONG PERIOD AVERAGE RAINFALL

This is also the first time since 2010 that India has got more than 100% of its long period average (LPA) of 88 cm in consecutive years.
Last year, India saw record rainfall of 110% of the LPA, the highest in a quarter century.
India has never got over 105% of the LPA in consecutive years in at least 30 years, according to records available since 1988 on the IMD website.

The heavy rains this year have been due to several long-lasting low-pressure systems in the Bay of Bengal.

Low pressure fuelled heavy rain over large swathes of India in August.

SHORT OF EXCESS

A developing La Nina, the converse of an El Nino (heating of the central equatorial Pacific and responsible for diminished monsoon rain over India) too, contributed to munificent rain this year.
The IMD, in its forecasts, had anticipated ‘normal’ rain, defined as 96-104% of the LPA.

Rains above 110% LPA are termed ‘excess’ and this year has fallen only a tad short.

IASbhai WINDUP:

Out of the 36 meteorological subdivisions that the IMD has partitioned the country into, 12 recorded ‘excess’ rain and 17 recorded ‘ normal’ rain.
Only five divisions posted ‘deficient rain’.

SOURCES:THE HINDU & PIB | 1st Oct Current Affairs News Analysis

Annual Crime in India 2019 report

HEADLINES:

Crimes against Scheduled Tribes saw 26% rise in 2019 : NCRB report

WHY IN NEWS:

Scheduled Castes also faced 7% more crimes than in 2018, it says

SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 2 : NCRB

ISSUE:

Crimes against members of the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and the Scheduled Tribes (STs) saw an increase of over 7%

The annual Crime in India 2019 report is published by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

KEY POINTS

Due to “non-receipt of data” from West Bengal for 2019, the 2018 data had been used to arrive at national and city-wise figures.
A total of 45,935 cases were registered for committing crimes against the SCs, showing an increase of 7.3% over 2018 when 42,793 such cases were recorded.

At 11,829 cases, Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of crimes against the SCs in 2019.

It was followed by 6,794 cases in Rajasthan and 6,544 cases in Bihar.

CRIME AGAINST WOMEN

In the number of cases of rape of women belonging to the SCs, Rajasthan topped the list with 554, followed by Uttar Pradesh at 537 and Madhya Pradesh at 510.
A total of 8,257 cases were registered for crimes against the STs, an increase of 26.5% over 2018 when 6,528 such cases were registered.

Madhya Pradesh recorded the highest number of cases against the STs as it recorded 1,922.

This is followed by Rajasthan, which recorded 1,797 and Odisha 576.

IASbhai WINDUP:

A total of 51,56,172 cognisable crimes, comprising 32,25,701 Indian Penal Code ones and 19,30,471 Special and Local Laws crimes were registered in 2019.
A total of 4,05,861 cases of crimes against women were registered in 2019 compared to 3,78,236 cases in 2018, showing an increase of 7.3%.

SOURCES:THE HINDU & PIB | 1st Oct Current Affairs News Analysis

Current account surplus widens

HEADLINES:

Current account surplus widens to $19.8 billion in Q1

WHY IN NEWS:

RBI cites steeper decline in imports relative to exports

SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3: Economy

ISSUE:

The surplus in the current account in the first quarter of 2020-21 was on account of a sharp contraction in trade deficit

THE SURPLUS

India recorded a surplus of $19.8 billion (3.9% of GDP) in its current account balance in the first quarter of FY21.
This is on top of a surplus of $0.6 billion (0.1% of GDP) in the preceding quarter, according to RBI data.
A deficit of $15 billion (2.1% of GDP) was recorded a year earlier.

WHAT IS A CURRENT ACCOUNT SURPLUS?

A current account surplus is a positive current account balance, indicating that a nation is a net lender to the rest of the world.

KEY POINTS

Current account surpluses refer to positive current account balances.

It also meaning that a country has more exports than imports of goods and services.

Countries with consistent current account surpluses face upward pressure on their currency.
Current account surpluses can also indicate low domestic demand or may be the result of a drop in imports due to a recession.

IASbhai WINDUP:

With domestic and global lockdowns to fight COVID-19 [having] a differentiated impact on exports and imports, the merchandise trade deficit shrunk to just $10 billion in Q1, most of which was accounted for by the net oil balance.

SOURCES:THE HINDU & PIB | 1st Oct Current Affairs News Analysis

Coronavirus mutation

HEADLINES:

Explained: Understanding an abundant, highly transmissible coronavirus mutation

WHY IN NEWS:

Until now, 12,000 mutations have been documented in over 3.2 crore cases globally.
One mutation has been found the most widespread. It was first noticed in China and Germany.

SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3:Health:Diseases

ISSUE:

The coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 is constantly mutating, but one mutation in particular has caught the eye of researchers for its abundance.

Named D614G, this mutation has been found more transmissible than most others.

WHAT IS D614G MUTATION?

All viruses mutate to adapt to the barriers that humans put up.
RNA viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 mutate slowly as they require a host (human cell) in order to replicate.
Until now, 12,000 mutations have been documented in over 3.2 crore cases globally.
One mutation has been found the most widespread.
It was first noticed in China and Germany, but gained attention when it cropped up in several cases across Europe, and eventually in the US, Canada, Australia and India.

In this mutation, glycine (G) replaces aspartic acid (D) in the 614th position in the amino acid.

Hence the mutation came to be referred as ‘D614G’.

WHAT MAKES THIS MUTATION UNLIKE OTHERS?

To understand this, we must understand how SARS-CoV-2 enters a human cell.
The amino acids where mutation occurs are located in the spike protein of the virus.

The spike proteins binds with the ACE2 receptor on the human cell and gains entry.

It is the peptides in the spike protein that lock with the ACE2 receptor.
In D614G mutation, two of the three peptides open up, making chances of entry into human cell higher.
The two peptides increase chances of the virus entering a human cell.
Thus , D614G has a higher rate of transmission.

IMPLICATIONS

A virus mutates every time it replicates in the human cell to adapt and survive.
This mutation is helping the virus do exactly that.

D614G could lead to more transmission and severe symptoms.

So far, there aren’t enough studies to draw a direct link between D614G and increased mortality.

IASbhai WINDUP:

Pfizer is working on a vaccine candidate in which antibodies will block the receptor-binding domain in the virus.
The vaccine’s German trial has shown promising results against the D614G strain.
A pre-print paper in Biorxiv on September 2 was optimistic that the mutation may not reduce a vaccine’s effectiveness against it.

SOURCES: IE | 1st Oct Current Affairs News Analysis

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