DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS + PIB -25th February 2020

IASbhai DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS(THE HINDU+LIVEMINT+PIB)

Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.-Albert Einstein

HIGHLIGHT INFO:

ORANGE COLOUR: Important for Prelims.

RED COLOUR: Important for Mains.

BLACK COLOUR: Must Read !

BLUE COLOUR : Important Links/Survey.

Page Contents:

SPICe+

HEADLINES:

MCA Secretary inaugurates SPICe+ web form

WHY IN NEWS:

SPICe+ to offer 10 services by 3 Central Government Ministries/ Departments in a single web form

SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3:Ease of doing business

LEARNING:

For PRELIMS its an important initiative.Note down the key feartures.

For MAINS this could serve as an important pointer in answers relevant to Digital India and EODB.

ISSUE:

As part of Government of India’s Ease of Doing Business (EODB) initiatives, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs has notified a new Web Form christened ‘SPICe+’ (pronounced ‘SPICe Plus’) replacing the existing SPICe form.

MINISTRY?: Ministry of Corporate Affairs

SPICe+

SPICe+ would offer 10 services by 3 Central Govt Ministries & Departments (Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Ministry of Labour & Department of Revenue in the Ministry of Finance) and One State Government (Maharashtra), thereby saving as many procedures, time and cost for Starting a Business in India and would be applicable for all new company incorporations.

KEY FEATURES of Spice+ web form:

SPICe+ would be an integrated Web Form.
SPICe+ would have two parts viz.:

Part A-for Name reservation for new companies and

Part B offering a bouquet of services viz.

(i) Incorporation

(ii) DIN allotment

(iii) Mandatory issue of PAN

(iv)Mandatory issue of TAN

(v)Mandatory issue of EPFO registration

(vi)Mandatory issue of ESIC registration

(vii)Mandatory issue of Profession Tax registration(Maharashtra)

(viii) Mandatory Opening of Bank Account for the Company and

(ix) Allotment of GSTIN (if so applied for)

The new web form would facilitate On-screen filing and real time data validation for seamless incorporation of companies.
For ensuring ease while filing, SPICe+ has been structured into various sections. Information once entered can be saved and modified.
Registration for EPFO and ESIC shall be mandatory for all new companies to be incorporated through SPICe+ and no EPFO & ESIC registration nos. shall be separately issued by the respective agencies.
Registration for Profession Tax shall also be mandatory for all new companies to be incorporated in the State of Maharashtra through SPICe+.
All new companies incorporated through SPICe+ would also be mandatorily required to apply for opening the company’s Bank account through the AGILE-PRO linked web form.

SOURCES:THE HINDU/DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS for UPSC CSE Prelims & Mains

Rurban Mission

HEADLINES:

Union Rural Development Minister Shri Narendra Singh Tomar inaugurates the 4th anniversary celebration of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Rurban Mission with the theme ‘Aatma Gaon Ki, Suvidha Sheher Ki’

WHY IN NEWS:

The Mission was launched by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on 21^st February 2016, with the vision to deliver catalytic interventions to rural areas on the threshold of growth.

SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3:Schemes

LEARNING:

For PRELIMS go through aim and objectives this scheme has to accomplish.

For MAINS you should be able to analyse the scheme on the basis of ground reality and pen it down on a piece of paper.

ISSUE:

The objective is to develop the clusters in a holistic manner by providing all the basic amenities, infrastructure as well as economic development opportunities in an integrated and time bound manner.

MINISTRY?: Ministry of Rural Development

AIM

“Development of a cluster of villages that preserve and nurture the essence of rural community life with focus on equity and inclusiveness without compromising with the facilities perceived to be essentially urban in nature, thus creating a cluster of “Rurban Villages”.

GOAL

The objective is to stimulate local economic development, enhance basic services, and create well planned Rurban clusters.

OUTCOMES

Bridging the gap of rural-urban divide: economic, technological and those related to facilities and services.
Stimulating local economic development with emphasis on reduction of poverty and unemployment in rural areas.
Spreading development in the region.
Attracting investment in rural areas.

RURBAN CLUSTER

A ‘Rurban cluster’, would be a cluster of geographically contiguous villages with a population of about 25000 to 50000 in plain and coastal areas and with a population of 5000 to 15000 in desert, hilly or tribal areas.

As far as practicable, clusters of villages would follow administrative convergence units of Gram Panchayats and shall be within a single block/tehsil for administrative convenience.

IASbhai WINDUP:

Critical gap funding aspect of the mission leads to further convergence and improves efficiency in overall implementation by providing financial assistance for various projects.

He further informed that the mission provides good employment opportunities, basic as well as urban facilities to rural India such as waste management, smart classrooms, piped water supply, Roads, Agro processing and value addition to primary produce etc and therefore is critical for holistic development.

SUGGESTED READING : c

SOURCES:THE HINDU/DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS for UPSC CSE Prelims & Mains

Stone chariot : Hampi

HEADLINES:

ASI planning barricade around famed stone chariot at Hampi

WHY IN NEWS:

The proposed move has triggered a debate among public

SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 1:History

LEARNING:

For PRELIMS some facts have been mentioned about Stone Chariot in this article.Go through them.

For MAINS let the issue evolve as its still in debate.

ISSUE:

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is contemplating installing a wooden barricade around the stone chariot inside Vittala Temple complex at the UNESCO World Heritage site of Hampi in Karnataka in a bid to protect it from vandalism.

The stone chariot at Hampi

Vittala Temple is not only among the most-visited protected monuments at Hampi, but is also the most photographed.

Art historians say it reflects a high degree of craftsmanship of the temple architecture that reached its zenith under the Vijayanagara rulers who reigned from 14th to 17th century CE.

According to a few officials in the ASI, the wooden barricade has been thought of since a long time given the behaviour of some tourists, who tend to be disrespectful towards monuments.

ARCHITECTURE

The iconic chariot was built by the Great King of Vijayanagara, Shri Krishna Deva Raya during the 16th century.

Inspired by the Dravidian style of architecture, the chariot is a colossal structure which shows the skill of the earlier craftsmen and architects.

The beauty of the chariot lies in the fact that it looks like one solid structure but in fact, has been built by slabs of granite whose linkages have been cleverly hidden with artistic designs.

The base on which the chariot rests depicts beautiful mythical battle scenes in intricate details.

There were sculptures of horses where presently elephants are seated.

There are also the remnants of the ladder in between the two elephants, using which priests used to climb up to the inner sanctum to pay homage to the sculpture of Garuda.

Government of India printed the chariot in 50 Rupee Note.

IASbhai WINDUP:

The spectacular view of the chariot and its detailed designing in the glow of the lights from the complex makes for a mesmerizing experience.

“There is lack of awareness among the public that the monuments stand testimony to culture and heritage,”

SUGGESTED READING : https://metrosaga.com/facts-about-stone-chariot/

SOURCES:THE HINDU/DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS for UPSC CSE Prelims & Mains

Operation ‘Dolphin Nose’

HEADLINES:

Sensitive information leaked by naval personnel, says NIA

WHY IN NEWS:

Banks being quizzed on huge sums transferred to accounts of 13 arrested sailors

SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 2:3:Government Agencies:Operation: Miscellaneous

LEARNING:

For PRELIMS remember the key facts about this operation.

For MAINS the practice of spying is a cross border issues. How can we strengthen our presence more in IOR and which technologies other countries are implementing for the same is very important.

ISSUE:

Thirteen Navy personnel, who were arrested on charges of espionage(the practice of spying or of using spies, typically by governments to obtain political and military information.), have reportedly leaked highly sensitive information to the Pakistan intelligence operatives.

OPERATION ‘DOLPHIN NOSE’

We began the operation named ‘Dolphin Nose’ a few months ago and kept a vigil on the movements of suspects in the Navy of different bases, their mobile phones and social media contacts.

In a joint operation —‘Dolphin’s Nose’ — conducted by the Andhra Pradesh State, NIA,Naval and Central intelligence agencies, 13 naval personnel and hawala operator were arrested for alleged espionage and suspected links with Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI)
The ENC(Eastern Naval Command) is also coming up with strategic Naval Alternative Operations Base (NAOB)in Visakhapatnam district.
The NAOB and the Arihant Project are listed under the “top-secret” strategic weapons projects and are directly under the control of the Prime Minister’s Office.
The arrested Navy personnel reportedly revealed the names of the ships and submarines, top-level officers, routes they operate and details of other colleagues recruited recently from various naval bases.
They also disclosed about some vital locations and movements of warships and submarines.

IASbhai WINDUP:

The young Navy personnel were honey-trapped by women through various social media groups and this has been happening for the last one year.

SOURCES:THE HINDU/DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS for UPSC CSE Prelims & Mains

PM-KISAN

HEADLINES:

1st Anniversary of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) observed

WHY IN NEWS:

1^st anniversary of starting of this new Central Sector Scheme.

SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3:Scheme

LEARNING:

For PRELIMS factual merit pointers are important in this scheme.

For MAINS pros and cons of this scheme have to be analysed.

ISSUE:

24^th February, 2020 is the 1^st anniversary of starting of a new Central Sector Scheme, namely, the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN).

MINISTRY? Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare

AIM

The scheme effective from 1.12.2018 was started with a view to augment the income of the farmers by providing income support to all landholding farmers’ families across the country, to enable them to take care of expenses related to agriculture and allied activities as well as domestic needs.

The Scheme initially provided income support to all Small and Marginal Farmers’ families across the country, holding cultivable land upto 2 hectares.

KEY FEATURES

Under the Scheme an amount of Rs.6000/- per year is transferred in three 4-monthly installments of Rs.2000/- directly into the bank accounts of the farmers, subject to certain exclusion criteria relating to higher income status.

The cut-off date for identification of beneficiaries with regard to their eligibility is 1.2.2019.

Affluent farmers have been excluded from the scheme such as Income Tax payers in last assessment year, professionals like Doctors, Engineers, Lawyers, Chartered Accountants etc and pensioners pensioners drawing at least Rs.10,000/- per month (excluding MTS/Class IV/Group D employees).

For enrollment, the farmer is required to approach the local patwari / revenue officer / Nodal Officer (PM-Kisan) nominated by the State Government.

Farmers can also do their self-registration/payment etc through the Farmers Corner in the portal.

Farmers can also edit their names in PM-Kisan database as per their Aadhaar database.

BENEFICIARIES

The entire responsibility of identification of beneficiaries rests with the State / UT Governments.

Beneficiaries are entitled to their benefit from the 4-monthly period in which their name is registered by the State Nodal Officer (SNO) in the PM-Kisan Portal.

The Union Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare has also launched a 24×7 automated IVRS(Interactive Voice Response System) based helpline for status verification.

Besides, farmers can now reach out to the PM KISAN team on email pmkisan-ict@gov.in.

FUNDING

The Central Government has already released more than Rs. 50850 crores till now.

Total number of beneficiaries to be covered under the scheme is about 14 crore.

As on 20.02.2020, on the basis of the data of beneficiaries uploaded on the PM-Kisan web portal by the State/UT Governments 8.46 crores farmer families have been given the benefits.

All installments falling due on or after 1^st December, 2019 are being paid only on the basis of Aadhaar authenticated bank data of beneficiaries to ensure genuine beneficiaries.

IASbhai WINDUP:

An exclusive web-portal www.pmkisan.gov.in has been launched for the Scheme.

SOURCES:THE HINDU/DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS for UPSC CSE Prelims & Mains

National Council of Science Museums (NCSM)

HEADLINES:

Exhibition showcases Tagore’s voice recording

WHY IN NEWS:

Rare artefacts of Kolkata featured

SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 1:History:Art and Culture:Poetry

LEARNING:

For PRELIMS its important tp know a little about poetry by Rabindranath Tagore

ISSUE:

Tracing over a century of evolution of technology, the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) has curated an exhibition of over 15 artefacts titled ‘Rare Artefacts’ in the city, which includes a vinyl gramophone disc used to record a rendering of poems and songs by Rabindranath Tagore.

Traversing time: Children observing the machine used to record Rabindranath Tagore’s voice.

NATIONAL COUNCIL OF SCIENCE MUSEUMS (NCSM)

MINISTRY? Ministry of Culture

It is the largest chain of science centers or museums under a single administrative umbrella in the world.

There are 24 own science centers or museums and one R & D laboratory and Training centre of NCSM, located in different states in India.

NCSM has been built to co-ordinate all informal science communication activities in the museum space in the country.

It was in 1932 that Tagore had recorded the poem ‘Jokhon hobo babar moto boro’ and the song ‘Tobu monerekho’ in a George Newman disc recording machine that was imported from Germany.

TAGORE’s POETRY

Tagore’s poetic style, which proceeds from a lineage established by 15th- and 16th-century Vaishnava poets, ranges from classical formalism to the comic, visionary, and ecstatic.

He was influenced by the atavistic mysticism of Vyasa and other rishi-authors of the Upanishads, the Bhakti-Sufi mystic Kabir, and Ramprasad Sen.

IASbhai WINDUP:

‘FIRST OF ITS KIND’

“This artefact was one of the first of its kind machines to be imported from Germany by Hindusthan Musical Products Limited.

SUGGESTED READING : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Works_of_Rabindranath_Tagore

SOURCES:THE HINDU/DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS for UPSC CSE Prelims & Mains

Testing SARS-CoV-2

HEADLINES:

Wuhan researchers call for expansive approach to testing SARS-CoV-2

WHY IN NEWS:

Oral swab testing might not be enough to confirm status, says paper

SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3:DISEASES

LEARNING:

For PRELIMS its important to know transmission methods of such diseases.

ISSUE:

A paper published in a recent issue of the peer-reviewed, open-access journal ‘Emerging Microbes and Infections’ has cautioned that SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing the COVID-19 outbreak, is being shed through multiple routes, so testing through oral swabs alone might not be sufficient.

An awareness event on COVID-19 in Siliguri.

OBSERVATIONS

Investigations on patients in a local hospital infected with the virus revealed the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in anal swabs and blood as well.

The anal positives suggested, they argued, shedding through the oral-fecal route, and therefore transmission is possible as well.

The virus may be present in anal swabs or blood of patients when oral swabs detection negative,” the researchers say, indicating the possible gaps in current detection methods.

Thus infected patients can potentially shed this pathogen through respiratory, fecal–oral or body fluid routes.

IASbhai WINDUP:

This observation implies that a patient cannot be discharged purely based on oral swabs testing negative, and the researchers go on to make a recommendation to do serological tests to confirm status.