Current Affairs - 2019-20

Notes:
Nirupama Rao, the former Indian Ambassador to US, has been appointed as a public policy fellow to a Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (WWICS) where she will work on a project on the Sino-India ties. Rao will be affiliated with the Wilson Centre’s Asia program and spend 3 months in residence at the Wilson Centre from June 2017, which is a key non-partisan policy forum for tackling global issues. The WWICS is the living, national memorial to President Wilson, created by Congress in 1968 and headquartered in Washington DC. The Wilson Center provides a strictly nonpartisan space for the worlds of policymaking and scholarship to interact.

Notes:
India fulfils 85% of its crude oil requirements through imports. As of June, 2022, Iraq, Russia and Saudi Arabia are India’s largest three crude oil suppliers.

Notes:
Under the Part XXI of the Constitution of India, which deals with “Temporary, Transitional and Special provisions”, Article 370 is a temporary provision granting special autonomous status to Jammu and Kashmir. However, all sections of article 370 except article 370(1) have been abrogated in 2019.

Notes:
National Agricultural Insurance Scheme was launched by the Government of India in the year 1999-2000. The coverage was for cereals, pulses, oilseeds, horticultural and commercial crops farmers and loanees as well as non-loanees farmers. The modified NAIS will be launched in 50 districts.

Notes:
Under the Global Plan to End TB 2016-2020, the Stop TB Partnership, the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Advance Access & Delivery (AA&D), and Interactive Research and Development (IRD) have come together to launch the Zero TB Initiative to support cities, districts, and islands that are committed to achieving a rapid reduction in the number TB patients.

Notes:
India’s first solar-based micro irrigation project has been recently launched at Dera Fateh Singh village in Pehowa in Kurukshetra district of Haryana. It is the country’s first pilot project on micro irrigation under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY). Under the Central government’s initiative “more crop, per drop”, the project will draw energy from solar panels and the power grid. Recently, Manohar Lal Khattar, Chief Minister of Haryana announced 85 per cent subsidy for solar power-run micro irrigation projects in 36 administrative blocks that are facing acute depletion of underground water table.

Notes:
The Global Cyber security Index (GCI) is released by International Telecommunication Union (ITU). It is a multi-stakeholder initiative to measure the commitment of countries to cyber security. Cyber security has a wide field of application that cuts across many industries and sectors. Each country’s level of development will therefore be analyzed within five categories: Legal Measures, Technical Measures, Organizational Measures, Capacity Building and Cooperation. India has been ranked 23rd out of 165 nations in the Global Cyber security Index (GCI) 2017.

Notes:
Recently, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in its environment report entitled, “Solid approach to waste: how five cities are beating pollution” has recognised 5 cities in the world for their excellent waste management system. These include Osaka in Japan, Ljubljana in Slovenia, Penang in Malaysia and Cajica in Colombia and Alappuzha in India.

Notes:
Recently, the Gujarat state government has introduced a new concept called “Bal Doctor” (Kid Doctor) who will look after children’s health under the school health programme. These Bal Doctors will be equipped with stethoscopes and medicines which they will dispense to their classmates. Also they will be given a stock of Ayurvedic medicines to deal with any health-related issue. Under the plan, government wants One Bal Doctor to be appointed in each primary school for which the state education department and the health department will function jointly. These Bal Doctors will encourage other students to wash their hands before mid-day meal and will also monitor Weekly Iron and Folic Acid Supplementation (WIFS) Programme (of the National Health Mission).

Notes:
The Indian scientists have finally started their research on “Dark Matter” in the special underground lab set up at Jaduguda mines in Jharkhand. The lab’s primary aim will be to join the hunt for dark matter, the mysterious stuff whose gravity holds galaxies together. The laboratory is located deep underground almost half-a-kilometre below the earth’s surface. To search for dark matter, scientists need to dive deep underground, so their experiments are shielded from intruders like cosmic rays and other radiations. The rock overhead is expected to absorb these unwelcome rays that interfere with the experiments. The Jaduguda mines are located nearly 260 km from Kolkata and 150 km from state capital Ranchi. It was set up at a cost of a mere Rs. 20 lakh. This is India’s second foray in underground lab experiments. Before this, in 1992, a similar facility was started in Karnataka’s Kolar gold field but was shut down after the mine got flooded due to disuse.