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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 05 January 2020

::NATIONAL::

PM urges to promote awareness on functioning of ethics committee in Parliamentary houses

RajyaSabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu has directed the Secretariat of the Upper House to promote awareness among the public about the procedures and functioning of its Ethics Committee.
The Committee oversees the conduct of the members and examines complaints of unethical conduct to enable its effective functioning.
Mr Naidu's directive came after a review of the functioning of the committee last week. It came to his notice that 22 complaints against 19 members of the RajyaSabha during the last four years, had to be returned by the Committee without examination since the complaints were not made as per the prescribed procedure.
Under the relevant rules, any person can make a complaint of unethical conduct against a member of the house in writing either to the Ethics Committee or an officer authorized by the Committee.
AIR correspondent quoting sources reports, the complaints against 19 members of the RajyaSabha belonging to eight major parties from both the ruling and opposition benches besides two independent members were not taken up for preliminary examination the Ethics Committee as they were not directly addressed to the authorities under the rules.

Government plans to set up a $100b biomanufacturing hub in India

Prime Minister NarendraModi said on Friday the Centre aims to develop India as a world-class $100-billion biomanufacturing hub by 2024.
The PM highlighted the need for ‘Make in India’ initiatives in medical devices so that people benefit from the fruits of advances in diagnosis.
The country, he said, should eradicate tuberculosis in five years and save people from communicable diseases such as Nipah and Ebola. Towards this, he sought continuous efforts to introduce modern tools and concepts of contemporary biomedical research.
Modi said India’s road to progress passed through science and technology, and urged young scientists to ‘innovate, patent, produce and prosper’. “If we innovate, we will patent and that in turn will make our production smoother and, when we take these products to the people of our country, they will prosper.”
According to the PM, there has been a large drop in deaths thanks to improvements in weather forecast and warning services, especially in the case of tropical cyclones.
“We need to explore, map and responsibly harness the vast oceanic resources of water, energy, food and minerals. This requires developing deep strengths in manned submersibles, deepsea mining systems and autonomous underwater vehicles,” Modi said.

::ECONOMY::

PM claims agriculture crucial in attaining $5trillion economy

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Thursday said that agriculture has a key role to play in helping the country achieve its goal of becoming five trillion dollar economy and the government was focusing on formulating a cash crop and export-centric farming system.
Modi said that production of spices has crossed 25 lakh tonne and their export has risen from Rs 15,000 crore to Rs 19,000 crore.He said the government was not only solving problems of farmers but also working towards a better future for them.
The Prime Minister also talked about efforts being made by the Centre to solve specific issues of farmers producing crops such as coconut, cashew, rubber and coffee.
Modi said that the government is working at three levels to strengthen fisheries - promoting fisheries in villages with financial assistance, modernisation of boats under blue revolution scheme and construction of modern fishing infrastructure.
He said that the Central government has also put aside Rs 7,500 crore as a special fund for building modern fishing infrastructure.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

India calls for restraint in U.S-Iran conflicts

India has called for restraint between the US and Iran. External Affairs Ministry said, the increase in tensions between both nations has alarmed the world and it is vital that the situation does not escalate further. The ministry said, that peace, stability and security in the region is of utmost importance.
After Iran's Revolutionary Guards commander QasemSoleimani was killed in Iraq by the US, resulting in the escalation of tension in the Gulf region, India said, it should be vital that the situation does not escalate further. External Affairs Ministry said, India has consistently advocated restraint and continues to do so.
Meanwhile,France has urged Tehran today to stick with the landmark nuclear accord at risk of falling apart, the day after Washington killed a top Iranian commander in Baghdad.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said he had discussed the issue with his Chinese and German colleagues. He expressed hope to avoid escalation of an already intense stand-off between Iran and the United States.
The 2015 agreement negotiated between Iran and Britain, France, China, Russia, the US along with Germany. They offered Tehran relief from stinging sanctions in return for curbs to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Australia calls for military troops to combat raging bush fire

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison called up 3,000 military reserve troops today to combat the raging bush fire crisis. The fire has claimed the lives of 23 people so far. High temperatures and strong winds are threatening to worsen conditions across the country.
Defence Minister Linda Reynolds said this is the first time that reservists have been called up in such a large number in the living memory.
The Prime Minister said that the decision puts more boots on the ground, more planes and more ships at sea to combat the fires. The ongoing bush fire crisis continues to worsen deadly conditions in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia even as evacuations continue in the regions.
Australia's military has been assisting with aerial reconnaissance, mapping, search and rescue, logistics and aerial support for months.
Prime Minister Morrison has also cancelled his planned first visit to India from 13th of January due to the catastrophy.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGYF::

More cases of a mystery viral pneumonia reported in China

China on Friday confirmed more cases of a mystery viral pneumonia that has sparked fears about a resurgence of SARS, the flu-like virus that killed hundreds of people more than a decade ago.
The authorities are still in the process of identifying the cause of the infection, but "influenza, avian influenza, adenovirus infection and other common respiratory diseases have been excluded," the Wuhan health commission said on Friday, without mentioning SARS, which is caused by a coronavirus.
The health commission said all patients have received treatment in isolation and the city was tracking people who had come into close contact with the patients.
Some of those being treated work in a seafood market in the city, and "no obvious evidence of human to human transmission" has been found so far, the commission said.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) criticised China for under-reporting the number of SARS cases following the outbreak in 2003.
The virus, which infected more than 8,000 people around the world, is expected to have originated in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, according to WHO.

::SPORTS::

SaurabhChaudhary wins gold in national championship

Ace shooter SaurabhChaudhary has won the men's 10 metres air pistol gold at the 63rd National Shooting Championship in Bhopal today. The 17-year-old from Uttar Pradesh shot a classy 246.4 to finish on top.
Second-placed Sarabjot Singh of Haryana was well behind with a score of 243.9, while world number two AbhishekVerma settled for bronze in a high-quality final.
Abhishek and Sarabjot together won the team gold for Haryana. Sarabjot also won the junior men's gold for a profitable day. Haryana and Uttar Pradesh picked up a clutch of golds as well.