Goaltide Daily Current Affairs 2020
Current Affair 1:
UN75 Declaration
Not very major issue. Two big world UN and DECLARATION are used, so we will see what an issue is. First of all, why this 75?
The United Nations (UN) will celebrate its 75th anniversary on 24 October 2020. Each year on 24th October, the UN celebrates its anniversary. UN Day marks the anniversary of the entry into force of the UN Charter and the founding of the Organization in 1945.
What is in news?
Recently, a commemorative declaration marking the 75th anniversary of the signing of the United Nations (UN) Charter was delayed as member states could not reach an agreement on phraseology.
India had last week joined five western countries (Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States) to protest against a phrase reflecting Chinese President Xi Jinping’s political creed.
The process had not been smooth as six countries (Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand and the United States) publicly ‘broke’ to object to the inclusion of a phrase in the final draft that was circulated on June 17. See the phrase below:
The reason that these six words set off alarm signals in certain permanent missions in New York was that these were a deliberate reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s pet concept for the global order. All the earlier drafts of the declaration, which were open for negotiation, did not have this phrase. It was only when the final draft was circulated that it was included – and the silence period immediately began. It meant that including the line in the declaration could not be negotiated anymore.
What is silence period?
The ‘silence procedure’ is the method adopted to consider draft resolutions and declarations as a consequence of the physical restrictions put in place due to the coronavirus pandemic. After the text of a draft decision or resolution is circulated, the item is said to be finalized after a certain period if no country registers a formal objection.
What the countries demand?
The objecting countries wanted the resolution to read, “We will work together with partners to strengthen coordination and global governance for the common good of present and future generations and to realize our shared vision for a better future as envisaged in the preamble of the UN Charter.”
This was acceptable compromise for the six countries as the new proposed phrase echoed the language in the UN charter. Silence period was extended to see if they have any objection or not regarding the new statement till 26 June.
On June 26, the text of the Declaration of Commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the United Nations was finalized after the end of the “silence period”.
So, for now it is: “We will work together with partners to strengthen coordination and global governance for the common good of present and future generations and to realize our shared vision for a better future as envisaged in the preamble of the UN Charter.” Wait for final updation of statement.
Current Affair 2:
Government Declares Entire Nagaland 'Disturbed Area' for 6 More Months
News
The Central Government has declared the whole of the State of Nagaland to be a 'disturbed area' to extend the operation of Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act [AFSPA] in the state for a further period of six months with effect from 30th June, 2020.
Nagaland has been under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act for almost six decades now.
Origin to AFSPA.
The Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958, had its genesis in the 1942 Lord Linlithgow ordinance, which was enacted to curb the Quit India movement. Soon after Independence, the country faced various secession movements. The government quickly evoked the Armed Forces Special Powers Act: a law that was once used by the British to curb movements of freedom struggle which saw many Indians being killed or imprisoned.
What does the AFSPA mean?
In simple terms, AFSPA gives armed forces the power to maintain public order in “disturbed areas”. Section 4 of the Act provides the following wide powers to any commissioned officer, warrant officer, non-commissioned officer or any other person of equivalent rank in the armed forces: You will read all four points below.
Any person arrested or taken into custody may be handed over to the officer in charge of the nearest police station along with a report detailing the circumstances that led to the arrest.
What is a “disturbed area” and who has the power to declare it?
A disturbed area is one which is declared by notification under Section 3 of the AFSPA. An area can be disturbed due to differences or disputes between members of different religious, racial, language or regional groups or castes or communities. The Central Government, or the Governor of the State or administrator of the Union Territory can declare the whole or part of the State or Union Territory as a disturbed area. A suitable notification would have to be made in the Official Gazette. As per Section 3, it can be invoked in places where “the use of armed forces in aid of the civil power is necessary”.
SC judgement on AFSPA: You will use this in your answer writing. We have taken two important judgements from two different articles.
What different committees have to say about it??
Which all states presently have AFSPA?
See, the areas keep changing under AFSPA. Whenever there will be problem AFSPA will be imposed. So, no need to panic if new village or area comes under AFSPA. Suppose your paper has been set in April for exam in May and suddenly in May before exam, AFSPA is imposed somewhere, so it will create problem. So, they will never ask such things. But have rough idea:
The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act-(AFSPA) was passed on September 11, 1958 to help the army in tackling the disturbed areas of the Northeast India. AFSPA was implemented in the Kashmir amid increase in the insurgency in 1990. Presently, AFSPA, 1958 is operational in entire States of Assam, Nagaland, Manipur (except Imphal Municipal area), three districts namely Tirap, Changlang and Longding of Arunachal Pradesh and the areas falling within the jurisdiction of the 8 police stations in the districts of Arunachal Pradesh, bordering the State of Assam.
Current Affair 3:
Union govt flags off ‘Accelerate Vigyan’ scheme to push scientific research
To provide a single platform for research internships, capacity building programs, and workshops across the country, the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) has launched a new scheme called ‘Accelerate Vigyan’ (AV).
The institution is also planning to launch an app in about two months. Accelerate Vigyan has already started calling applications under its ‘ABHYAAS’ component for the winter season. ABHYAAS is an attempt to boost research and development in the country by enabling and grooming potential post-graduate / PhD students by developing their research skills in select areas.
It has two components: High-end workshops (‘KARYASHALA’) and research internships (‘VRITIKA’). This is especially important for those who have limited opportunities to access such learning capacities / infrastructure.
The Union government scheme will work on mission mode, particularly with respect to its component dealing with consolidation / aggregation of all major scientific events in the country. An inter-ministerial overseeing committee involving all scientific ministries / departments and a few others has been constituted to support SERB in implementing the scheme.
To increase the volume of research studies and provide incentives for the same, Government has introduced many schemes/programmes, including the following:
- Prime Minister Research Fellowship (PMRF) Scheme for promotion of research in the frontier areas of science & technology.
- Scheme for Trans-disciplinary Research for India’s Developing Economy (STRIDE) for Humanities and Human Sciences.
- Impacting Research Innovation and Technology (IMPRINT) for technical research.
- Impactful Policy Research in Social Science (IMPRESS) for social sciences research.
- Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration (SPARC) for joint research with Foreign Universities; and
- National Doctoral Fellowship (NDF) scheme to promote research culture and collaborative research between Institute and Industries leading to start-ups in AICTE institutions.
Current Affair 4:
K.K.Venugopal reappointed as Attorney General for India
Important topic today for us Attorney General. We will try to cover every detail of Attorney General Today.
Now, the important part is:
The Act enacted to regulate terms, duties and conditions of Law officer in India including Attorney General: Law Officer (Conditions of Service) Rules, 1987. Read every point mentioned.
Term of Law officer:
Duties of Law officer:
A law officer shall not:
Now we will see List of Attorneys and Order of Precedence of Attorney:
Current Affair 5:
Chinese Researchers Warn of New Virus in Pigs with Human Pandemic Risk
A news just to calm you that no need to worry about new virus now.
A team of Chinese researchers looked at influenza viruses found in pigs from 2011 to 2018 and found a “G4” strain of H1N1 that has “all the essential hallmarks of a candidate pandemic virus”, according to the paper, published by the US journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
A new flu virus found in Chinese pigs has become more infectious to humans and needs to be watched closely in case it becomes a potential “pandemic virus”, a study said, although experts said there is no apparent threat.
While it is capable of infecting humans, there is no imminent risk of a new pandemic, said Carl Bergstrom, a biologist at the University of Washington.
