Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 06 May 2020

::NATIONAL::

India plans huge excavation to bring back stranded Indians abroad

India is launching a huge evacuation exercise in the wake of COVID 19 to bring back thousands of Indians stranded abroad. Government sources said over three lakh people have registered in Gulf countries alone.
The immediate focus will be to bring back Indians from the Gulf, countries in neighbourhood as well as from US, UK and Singapore.
Sources also said External Affairs Ministry will share detailed database with states and central ministries for the possible employment of skilled workers as thousands of Indians are returning after losing jobs.
They said only those having compelling reasons to return home like medical emergency, and expiry of visas will be brought back. Only Indian nationals will be brought back and not OCI card holders.
External Affairs Ministry is coordinating with the states and Indian missions abroad for smooth implementation of the operation. It has deputed a number of additional secretaries and joint secretaries to coordinate with the states.

PM reviews status of India’s vaccine development, drug discovery and testing of COVID-19

Prime Minister NarendraModi has taken a detailed review of the current status of India’s efforts in vaccine development, drug discovery, diagnosis and testing related to COVID-19.
An official statement said, over 30 Indian vaccines are in different stages of development with a few going on to the trial stages. In drug development, three approaches are being taken which include the repurposing of existing drugs.
Secondly, the development of new candidate drugs and molecules are being driven by linking high performance computational approach with laboratory verification. Thirdly, plant extracts and products are being examined for general anti-viral properties. In diagnosis and testing, several academic research institutions and start-ups have developed new tests, both for the RT-PCR approach and for the antibody detection.
During the meeting, Mr Modi took note of the extraordinary coming together of academia, industry and government, combined with speedy but efficient regulatory process.
He desired that such coordination and speed should be embedded into a standard operating procedure. He emphasized, what is possible in a crisis should be a part of routine way of scientific functioning.
Appreciating the scientific coming together of computer science, chemistry and biotechnology in drug discovery, the Prime Minister suggested that a hackathon be held on this subject, linking computer science to synthesis and testing in the laboratory.

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::ECONOMY::.

Corporate borrowings tumble amid lockdown

Borrowings by 1.7 million companies tracked by the ministry of corporate affairs have nearly dried up since the government imposed a nationwide lockdown on March 25 to rein in the Covid-19 outbreak.
The number of charge filings for loans above ₹50 crore in the January-March quarter fell 44% year-on-year. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data separately showed that credit grew 6.1% at the end of March, a 58-year low.
Bank credit, bonds outstanding and commercial paper stood at Rs 6 lakh crore in FY20, down from Rs 16.8 lakh crorein the previous financial year.Banks accounted for as much as ₹5.9 lakh crore of the total lending, though it was nearly half of ₹11.9 lakh crore they had lent in the previous fiscal.
“Even though each charge filing is not equal to a new loan every time, the decline is significant to indicate that there is a decline in broader borrowing activity of medium and large corporates.”Rating agency Icra said incremental credit growth declined 64% at the end of March.
The pandemic has had a severe financial impact, even as the government has tried to stave off economic collapse. According to the International Monetary Fund, the Indian economy is projected to grow at 1.9% this fiscal, sharply lower than the level of about 5% forecast earlier. Global growth is set to contract 3%, as the world stares at the worst recession since the Great Depression of 1929-33.

Cotton corporation to purchase cotton at MSP

The Textiles Ministry has assured farmers in Maharashtra that the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) is fully prepared to purchase cotton at minimum support price in the state during the ongoing lockdown.
The MSP operations are continuing and Cotton Corporation of India's (CCI) procurement is currently on at 34 centres in the state.The ministry’s move comes amid concerns that traders may not offer a better price in view of the pandemic situation forcing farmers to avail the MSP rates.
AIR correspondent reports, the Textile ministry has said the procurement is regulated by state’s agricultural produce market committees (APMCs) and 27 centres are coming under red zones wherein procurement is expected to pick up this week.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

India plans first virtual bilateral summit with Australia

India is planning to hold its first ever bilateral virtual summit where PM NarendraModi and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison plan to discuss a range of issues including joint fight against Covid and Indo-Pacific partnership.
The two sides plan to conclude a range of pacts including Mutual Logistics Sharing Pact and in areas of science & technology and public administration on the occasion
Australia has felt that it can do more with India in global and regional responses to the threat of terrorism besides widening the scope of their Indo-Pacific partnership to stabilise Indian Ocean Region through Mutual Logistics Sharing Agreement for their defence forces.
The logistic sharing Agreement was originally scheduled to be signed in January on the occasion of Morrison’s visit.
Logistics sharing agreements with nations like Japan and Australia will significantly enhance the capability of the India Navy to operate eastwards, which is an increasing area of interest.
However, sources cautioned that the agreements should not been seen in the context of the ‘Quad’ initiative and that individual relations with the nations have progressed to a level where increasing bilateral activity requires such a pact.

China launches new satellite via Longmarch 5B rocket

China on Tuesday successfully launched a new rocket and prototype spacecraft, state media said, in a major test of the country’s ambitions to operate a permanent space station and send astronauts to the Moon.
The spaceship will one day transport astronauts to a space station that China plans to complete by 2022 — and eventually to the Moon. It will have capacity for a crew of six.
The United States is so far the only country to have successfully sent humans to the Moon. But Beijing has made huge strides in its effort to catch up, sending astronauts into space, satellites into orbit and a rover to the far side of the Moon.
The successful maiden flight of the 54-metre Long March 5B — which has a take-off mass of about 849 tonnes — should reassure China, following failures of the 7A model in March and 3B model in April.
China plans to send an astronaut to the Moon in about a decade and then build a base there.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

Experts claim reduced emissions and blue skies won’t benefit environment in the long run

Weeks of lockdown in the country to fight coronavirus may have reduced greenhouse gas emissions enabling people to breathe cleaner air and feast on blue skies, but it is only a temporary phase and will not benefit the environment in the long run, experts have said.
Recently, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) released a report on effect of 'Janata Curfew' on the air quality in which it found that the reduction in number of on-road vehicles, resulted in up to 51 per cent reduction in nitrogen oxide (NOx) levels and 32 per cent reduction in carbon dioxide (CO2) levels during March 22-23, 2020 as compared to March 21.
Environmentalists feel that carbon emissions may have reduced drastically but are likely to go back to the pre-corona levels in a few weeks' time, once the virus threat mitigates.
Sharing a similar opinion, Suyash Gupta, Director General, Indian Auto LPG Coalition, said many cities are breathing clean air after a long time but this shutdown cannot be expected to result in stabilization of carbon dioxide concentration.
"Researchers have already stated that we must not expect the impact of this global shutdown to result in any stabilization in CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere. However, this phase has certainly raised awareness about the need for people to adopt more eco-friendly lifestyles including the usage of clean transport fuels once human activity resumes," Gupta said.

::SPORTS::

Hockey international invites bids to host various national championships

While most sports federations are struggling to redraw their future activities due to uncertainty, Hockey India has sought interest from member associations to host various National championships in 2021.
The restructured format of the Nationals means there would be separate championships for States, institutions and academies across age-groups.
While the deadline to express interest to host the 11th edition in 2021 is May 11, the deadline for inter-department and academy Nationals is June 5.
The window to host the senior competitions has been set for January 1 to April 30 and February 15 to April 30 for the junior and sub-junior categories.
The new structure of Nationals means State units can participate across all age-groups, institutions cannot have a sub-junior team while academies cannot have a senior side.

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