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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 04 August 2021

::NATIONAL::

Sabki Yojana Sabka Vikascampaign

Government launched ‘Sabki Yojana Sabka Vikas’ campaign for inclusive and holistic preparation of Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP)

About:

Under Article 243 G of Constitution, Panchayats have been mandated for preparation and implementation of plans for economic development and social justice.
With this aim, People’s Plan Campaign titled ‘Sabki Yojna Sabka Vikas’, for inclusive and holistic preparation of Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP) was launched from 2nd October, 2020 to 31st January, 2021 as was done during 2018 and 2019.
In this endeavor, convergence was sought with all Departments relating to 29 devolved subjects listed in XIth Schedule of the Constitution.
The objectives of ‘Sabki Yojna Sabka Vikas’ broadly include
strengthening of elected representatives and Self Help Groups,
evidence based assessment of progress made in 2020-21 and proposals for 2021-22 in all 29 subjects of XI Schedule,
public disclosure on Schemes, finances etc.
preparation of inclusive, participatory and evidence based GPDP for 2021-22 through structured Gram Sabha involving front line workers/ supervisors of all 29 sectors of XI schedule.

Power to pardon

The Supreme Court on Tuesday held that the Governor of a State can pardon prisoners, including death row ones, even before they have served a minimum 14 years of prison sentence.

About:

The Governor’s power to pardon overrides a provision in the Code of Criminal Procedure — Section 433A —which mandates that a prisoner’s sentence can be remitted only after 14 years of jail, a Bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and A.S. Bopanna observed in a judgment.
“Section 433-A of the Code cannot and does not in any way affect the constitutional power conferred on the President/Governor to grant pardon under Articles 72 or 161 of the Constitution.
If the prisoner has not undergone 14 years or more of actual imprisonment, the Governor has a power to grant pardon... de hors the restrictions imposed under Section 433-A... Such power is in exercise of the power of the sovereign, though the Governor is bound to act on the aid and advice of the State Government.
In fact, the court noted that the sovereign power of a Governor to pardon a prisoner under Article 161 is actually exercised by the State government and not the Governor on his own.
The advice of the appropriate government binds the Head of the State, Justice Gupta observed in the judgment which referred to the Supreme Court’s Constitution Bench judgment in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case on the power of remission.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

Updated Nationally Determined Contributions

Only 110 countries that are party to the Paris accord have submitted updated NDCs for limiting their carbon emissions.

About:

China and India have missed U.N. deadline.
The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change that was adopted by196 countries in December 2015 with the aim of limiting global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius and preferably to 1.5C, compared to pre-industrial levels.
Under the accord, every participating country originally had until the end of 2020 to submit new or updated NDCs.

Hunger hotspots

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Food Programme(WFP) warn that in 23 countries acute food insecurity is likely to further deteriorate.
Conflict, climate extremes and economic shocks are primary drivers of acute food insecurity.

About:

The Food and Agriculture Organisation and World Food Program said in a new report on “Hunger Hotspots” between August and November that “acute food insecurity is likely to further deteriorate.”
They put Ethiopia at the top of the list, saying the number of people facing starvation and death is expected to rise to 4,01,000 — the highest number since the 2011 famine in Somalia — if humanitarian aid isn’t provided quickly.
In southern Madagascar, which has been hit by the worst drought in the past 40 years, pests affecting staple crops, and rising food prices — 14,000 people are expected to be pushed into “catastrophic” acute food insecurity marked by starvation and death by September.
India is not one of the hotspot.

::ECONOMY::

Reserve Bank of India -Digital Payment Index

The composite RBI-DPI Index has grown from207.84 of March 2020 to 270.59 in March 2021.
This demonstrated rapid adoption and deepening of digital payments across the country in recent years.
RBI- DPI was launched on 01 January, 2021 withMarch 2018 as base year.
RBI-DPI comprises 5 broad parameters (with number of sub-parameters):

1. Payment Enablers (weight 25%),
2. Payment Infrastructure- Demand-side factors (10%),
3. Payment Infrastructure- Supply-side factors (15%),
4. Payment Performance (45%) and
5. Consumer Centricity (5%)

::SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY::

Kyasanur Forest Disease

Overexploitation of edible Roen Olmi mushrooms which grow in a symbiotic relation with termites can result in outbreak of Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD) in Goa.
This seasonal mushroom variety is endangered by unrestrained harvesting coupled with destruction of termite hills by land development.

About KFD or Monkey Fever

It is a tick-borne viral haemorrhagic fever, first found in Kyasanur Forest area of Shimoga district,Karnataka.
KFD virus (KFDV) is a member of the genus Flavivirus and family Flaviviridae.

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