Current Affairs - 2019-20

Notes:
The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions has started its Twitter Seva. The Twitter Handle is ‘DARPGSEVA’. The Twitter Seva aims to address issues relating to the DARPG like Public Grievances and Administrative Reforms etc. The Twitter Seva will enable the DARPG to reach out to the common public and various stakeholders for facilitating redress of grievances and other issues of importance relating to the department.

Notes:
The 12th G-20 summit concluded in July 2017 in Germany’s Hamburg city with adaptation of Hamburg Action Plan. It sets out the group’s strategy for achieving strong. At the summit, the G20 members took resolution to tackle common challenges to the global community, including terrorism, displacement, hunger, poverty and health threats, job creation, climate change, energy security and inequality including gender inequality, as a basis for sustainable development and stability. The members agreed to harness the benefits of globalisation and fulfilling the promises made in the Paris agreement.

Notes:
In an effort to expand the fight against the tobacco epidemic, the WHO has introduced the MPOWER package of six proven policies. These are:

• Monitor tobacco use and prevention policies;
• Protect people from tobacco smoke;
• Offer help to quit tobacco use
• Warn about the dangers of tobacco
• Enforce bans on tobacco advertising
• Promotion and sponsorship
• Raise taxes on tobacco

Notes:
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has launched the Blue Flag programme to certify clean beaches in India. The blue flag criteria have been set by Foundation for Environmental Education. It requires the beach should not be affected by industrial, waste-water, or sewage discharge and water must be clean. It also specifies that algae vegetation or natural debris should not be left on the beach, waste disposal bins must be available along the beach in adequate numbers and toilets along the beach should have controlled sewage disposal for beaches to be granted Blue Flag certification.

Notes:
The Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP) is an externally-aided project being funded by the World Bank. Nearly 80% of the total cost is being funded by the World Bank as loan/credit and remaining is borne by the States/Central Governments. The Central Dam Safety Organization of Central Water Commission, assisted by Engineering and Management Consultant, is coordinating and supervising the Project implementation. There are 223 dams in seven states being improved under the Phase-I of the project. The phase-I of the project will be implemented till 2020. Recently, the phase-II of the project is proposed to be implemented over the six years (2020-26) at an estimated cost of Rs 7000 crore. Under Phase-II of the project, the safety and operational performance of 700 large dams across 18 states will be improved through repair and rehabilitation work.

Notes:
The Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP) 2017 has been released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in partnership with the World Bank Group. The BRAP includes 405 recommendations for reforms on regulatory processes, policies, practices and procedures spread across 12 reform areas, that is, labour regulation enablers; contract enforcement; registering property; inspection reform enablers; single window system; land availability and allotment; construction permit enablers; environmental registration enablers; obtaining utility permits; paying taxes; access to information and transparency enablers and sector specific reforms spanning the lifecycle of a typical business. BRAP 2017 includes two new sectors i.e. Healthcare and Hospitality.

Notes:
The 2018 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Dr. Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict. Dr. Mukwege, a gynecologist in the Democratic Republic of Congo, is the helper who has devoted his life to defending victims of war-time sexual violence. Nadia Murad is a Yazidi Kurdish human rights activist and survivor of sexual slavery by Islamic State in Iraq. She is the witness who tells of the abuses perpetrated against her and others. She has shown uncommon courage in recounting her own sufferings and speaking up on behalf of other victims. The prize will be presented in Oslo on December 10, the anniversary of the death of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, who founded the awards in his 1895 will.

Notes:
In Rome, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has recently launched the new ‘Africa Centre for Climate and Sustainable Development’ in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and FAO to fight climate change and boost sustainable development in Africa. The centre will provide a fast-track, demand-driven mechanism for African countries to access grant resources that support policies, initiatives, and best practices on climate change, food security, access to water, clean energy, and accelerating progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Africa. The Africa Centre has its roots in a declaration endorsed by the G7 meeting of the Environment Ministers in 2017. The new centre is established to facilitate coordination among the G7 and African countries on common initiatives in Africa to develop and scale-up innovative solutions for sustainable development, and to achieve the goals set by the 2015 Paris Agreement and the UN’s 2030 Agenda.

Notes:
Indonesia has topped the tally in winning the most number of titles in BWF Men’s doubles World Championships. It has won a total of 9 titles.