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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 07 October 2020

::NATIONAL::

Centre decides to fix jurisdiction of river boards

The Centre will determine the jurisdictions of the Krishna and Godavari river management boards (KRMB and GRMB), Union Water Resources Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said on Tuesday.
He was speaking after convening an apex council meeting involving the Centre, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the second since 2016. The meeting is primarily to resolve the conflict between the two States over executing irrigation projects and sharing water from the Krishna and Godavari rivers.
The key points on the agenda at Thursday’s meeting which was convened via videoconference are: jurisdiction of the KRMB and GRMB, submission of Detailed Project Reports (DPR) of new projects by the two governments for appraisal and sanction by the apex council, establishing a mechanism to determine the share of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in the Krishna and Godavari waters, and shifting the headquarters of the Krishna River Management Board to Andhra Pradesh.
The headquarters of the KRMB would be located in Andhra Pradesh, headded.With regards to sharing of river waters, the Telangana Chief Minister agreed to withdraw the case filed in Supreme Court, to allow the Centre to refer water sharing issues to the Krishna Godavari tribunal.
Regarding the sharing of Godavari waters, both the States were asked to send in their requests to the Centre so that it could refer them to the tribunal, a statement from the Water Resources Ministry said.

NCERT signs MoU to convert educational materials to sign language

A historic Memorandum of Understanding was signed today between Indian Sign Language Research and Training Center and NCERT to make education materials accessible for Deaf children in their preferred format of communication, Indian Sign Language.
This MoU was signed in the virtual presence of Social Justice and Empowerment Minister ThaawarchandGehlot and Education Minister Ramesh PokhriyalNishank.
Addressing on the occasion, Mr Gehlot said that the signing of this MoU is a historic step as availability of NCERT textbooks in Indian Sign Language will ensure that Hearing Impaired children can also now access educational resources in Indian Sign Language.
He said, it will be a useful and much needed resource for Hearing Impaired students, teachers, teacher educators and parents. The Minister said that this MoU is a step towards achieving common goal of fulfilling needs of Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 and New Education Policy, 2020.

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::ECONOMY::

Rating agency forecasts tough times for banks

Fitch Ratings on Tuesday said Indian banks face a tough operating environment in the near term as stressed loans and write-offs increase due to the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Indian banks face a tough operating environment in the near term, as stressed loans and write-offs increase as a result of the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, but a swift economic recovery will be critical to limiting loan losses in what is likely to be a protracted period of weakness in the asset-quality cycle,” Fitch Ratings said.
Banks have been permitted by the Reserve Bank of India to undertake a one-time restructuring exercise of loans affected by the pandemic, which will provide relief in terms of bad loan recognition and provisioning, Fitch said.
“However, the exercise could leave the sector saddled with a high bad loan burden over the next few years if restructured loans do not perform according to agreed milestones,” it added. Fitch said the central bank’s data showed that Indian banks wrote off almost $85 billion over FY14-FY19.

Centre dedicated 42 CNG stations and 3 city gate stations

Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister DharmendraPradhan today dedicated 42 CNG stations and three City Gate Stations of Torrent Gas to the service of the community through video conference.
Torrent Gas has the authorization to lay City Gas Distribution network in 32 Districts across 7 States and one Union Territory. These CNG stations are located across various states, including 14 in Uttar Pradesh, 8 in Maharashtra, 6 in Gujarat, 4 in Punjab and 5 each in Telangana and Rajasthan.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Pradhan said, Government has visualized that consumers, as per their purchasing capacity and their choice of fuel, should be able to buy any type of fuel from the retail outlet- be it petrol, diesel, CNG, LNG or electric charging. He also said that the Government wants to supply fuel through the mobile dispensers so that consumers can get the fuel at their doorstep, as per their convenience.
The Minister said that India will become the largest energy consumer in the world in the coming years.
In the Solar energy sector, India has already become the role model. Mr Pradhan said that an investment of more than four lakh crore rupees is being made in the gas infrastructure which includes laying of pipelines, terminals and gas fields.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

India-Myanmar agree upon operationalization of Sittwe port

India and Myanmar have agreed to work towards the operationalization of the Sittwe port in the Rakhine state in the first quarter of 2021. The announcement came post conclusion of the two-day visit of Indian Army Chief General MM Naravane and Foreign Secretary Harsh VardhanShringla to Myanmar.
The Indian delegation also presented 3000 vials of Remdesivir to the State Counsellor Aung San SuuKyi, as a symbol of cooperation between the countries to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
Both sides agreed to further strengthen their partnership in borderd security connectivity projects, capacity building, power and energy. They also agreed to deepen the economic and trade ties, further facilitate people to people and cultural exchanges and broad-base their defense exchanges across all the three services.
They also discussed the progress in the ongoing Indian-assisted infrastructure projects such as the Trilateral Highway and the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project.
India announced a grant of two million US Dollars for the construction of the border haat bridge at Byanyu/Sarsichauk in Chin State that will provide increased economic connectivity between Mizoram and Myanmar.

India and U.S to work for stability of Indo-Pacific region

External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar met Secretary of State of the United States Mike Pompeo today ahead of his joint meeting with the Foreign Ministers of QUAD countries slated to be held later in the day.
Dr.Jaishankar is on a two-day visit to Tokyo, Japan which began today. Dr.Jaishankar, in a tweet message, has said that he is pleased to see the progress of Indo-US partnership in many fields.
He said, both the countries will work together for stability and prosperity in the Indo- Pacific. The Foreign Ministers of India, United States, Australia and Japan are likely to discuss the post-COVID-19 international order and the need for a coordinated response to the various challenges emerging from the pandemic.
They will also discuss regional issues and collectively affirm the importance of maintaining a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific.Dr. Jaishankar will be also meeting his Japanese and Australian counterpart for a bilateral consultation. The Ministers are expected to discuss bilateral and regional issues of mutual interest.
AIR correspondent reports, the meeting of Foreign Ministers of India, United States, Australia and Japan holds high significance amid the global pandemic.This is the second time the four foreign ministers will be meeting after their first such meeting last year on the sidelines of the United Nations meet.
In addition to the Quad meeting, details are also being worked out for the India-US 22 dialogue.The crucial meet will also embolden one of the most powerful and decisive union of nations in the recent times.

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::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

Virus researchers to receive nobel prize for medicine

Two Americans and a Briton won the 2020 Nobel Prize for Medicine on Monday for identifying the Hepatitis C virus, in work spanning decades that has helped to limit the spread of the fatal disease and develop antiviral drugs to cure it.
The discoveries by scientists Harvey J. Alter, Charles M. Rice and Briton Michael Houghton meant there was now a chance of eradicating the Hepatitis C virus.
The three share the 10 million Swedish crowns ($1.1 million) award for discovering and proving that a blood-borne virus could cause Hepatitis C, which afflicts more than 70 million people and causes about 4,00,000 deaths each year.
This virus, belonging to the Flavivirus family, was named Hepatitis C.Its identification made it possible to develop tests to screen bloodbank supplies and greatly reduce the spread of the disease, which can cause cirrhosis and liver cancer.
The final piece of the jigsaw puzzle came when Dr. Rice, then at Washington University in St. Louis, was able to use genetic engineering to generate a version of the Hepatitis C virus and demonstrate that it alone could cause symptoms in a chimpanzee comparable to an infection in humans.

::SPORTS::

IOC tries to simplify postponed Tokyo Olympics

The IOC and local organisers are trying to “simplify” the postponed Tokyo Olympics, promising to save money.
The executive board of the International Olympic Committee is expected to review the proposed cuts on Wednesday. It includes about 50 changes to fringe areas that leave the number of athletes — 15,400 for the Olympics and Paralympics — and all sports events untouched for next year.

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