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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 06 July 2020

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 6 July 2020

Government has launched the GaribKalyanRojgarAbhiyaan to start extensive public works to provide livelihood opportunities and create local employment to returnee migrants and affected rural citizens due to COVID pandemic.
As part of this Abhiyan, JalJeevan Mission is aiming to provide household tap connections to every rural household and offers a huge opportunity to engage skilled, semi-skilled and migrant returnees in drinking water supply related works.
States have been requested to start works in villages of these districts so that it will not only help to ensure adequate quantity of water at household level but will also help in providing employment to migrant returnees.

The J&K administration on Sunday performed the rituals to start the annual Amarnath pilgrimage, where only 500 pilgrims will be allowed to trek to the holy shrine from the Baltal area of central Kashmir.
Due to the pandemic, the pilgrimage is likely to be held from July 23 to August 3 only from the Baltal track and not the traditional route of Pahalgam in south Kashmir.Only 500 pilgrims will be allowed a day by road from Jammu, an official said.
Lieutenant-Governor Girish Chandra Murmu, accompanied by officials, on Sunday performed the “PrathamAarti” at the holy Amarnath cave. It was telecast live by PrasarBharti. Mr.Murmu is also the chairman of the ShriAmarnath Shrine Board (SASB), the body regulating the pilgrimage.

The commerce and industry ministry has sought stricter scrutiny of goods coming from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, South Korea and the ASEAN bloc, amid fears of Chinese imports increasingly being routed through these countries.
It has pushed for fast tracking amendments to the customs law to tighten the rules to claim concessional benefits under India’s free trade pacts, in line with the changes proposed in the budget this year.
The ministry has requested the finance ministry to introduce stringent provisions related to rules of origin, to empower customs officers for checking the abuse of FTAs.

The Prime Minister NarendraModi has launched Aatmanirbhar Bharat Innovation Challenge to identify the best Indian Apps that are already being used by citizens and have the potential to scale and become world class Apps in their respective categories.
Prime Minister NarendraModi has urged people of tech community to participate in Aatmanirbhar Bharat App Innovation Challenge. This will run in two tracks- Promotion of Existing Apps and Development of New Apps.
In a LinkedIn post, Mr Modi said, for promotion of existing Apps and platforms across the categories of E-learning, Work-from-Home, Gaming, Business, Entertainment, Office Utilities, and Social Networking, Government will provide mentoring, hand-holding and support.

Bangladesh has moved 7 places up in the latest Sustainable Development Index (SDG) for the year 2020. Among 166 countries for which the SDG index was prepared, Bangladesh stands at the 109th position compared to the 116th position in the year 2019. Sweden is placed at the top of the index with an overall score of 84.7 while Bangladesh has a score of 63.5.
The report shows that among 17 SDG parameters, Bangladesh has remained on track in achieving goals relating to poverty alleviation, quality education, decent work and economic growth and climate action.
However, significant challenges remain on 7 parameters including the goal of zero hunger, good health, clean water and sanitation, innovation and peace, justice and strong institutions.

German lawmakers have finalized the country's long-awaited phase-out of coal as an energy source, backing a plan that environmental groups say isn't ambitious enough and free marketeers criticize as a waste of taxpayers' money.
The plan is part of Germany's 'energy transition' - an effort to wean Europe's biggest economy off planet-warming fossil fuels and generate all of the country's considerable energy needs from renewable sources. Achieving that goal is made harder than in comparable countries such as France and Britain because of Germany's existing commitment to also phase out nuclear power by the end of 2022.
Environmentalists have also criticized the large sums being offered to coal companies to shut down their plants, a complaint shared by libertarians such as Germany's opposition Free Democratic Party.

Scientists from the National Centre of Biological Sciences (NCBS) in Bengaluru have got fascinating insights into the relations of caterpillars and their ant hosts using advanced X-ray MicroCT technology. The intriguing caterpillar-ant associations have been a subject of study for decades.
Butterflies of the family Lycaenidae, known as Blues and Hairstreaks, have over millions of years evolved a range of adaptations that have tamed their ferocious ant predators into protectors and providers.
In fact, caterpillars of this family closely associate with ants, becoming strange bedfellows. Not only do ants not eat these caterpillars and pupae, they actually care for them and aggressively protect them from other predators and parasitoids, thus creating an enemy-free space for the butterfly’s early stages.

Riding on a brilliantly crafted victory in the first game, Magnus Carlsen kept a fighting AnishGiri at bay to win the second set 2.5-.1.5 and claim the title in the $150,000 Chessable Masters on Saturday.
“Frankly, Anish played better than me in the last three games. I was just lucky to get away,” acknowledged Carlsen after the final.The result: Final: Set Two: Rapid (Game One): Magnus Carlsen (Nor) btAnishGiri (Ned).