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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 08 February 2021

::NATIONAL::

India slipped two places to 53rd position in 2020 Democracy Index while Norway topped the index.
Index is released by Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) giving insight into the current state of democracy worldwide for 167 countries.
Decline in ranking was attributed to “democratic backsliding” by authorities and “crackdowns” on civil liberties.
Out of 167 countries, Index classifies 23 countries as full democracies, 52 as flawed democracies, 35 as hybridregimes and 57 as authoritarian regimes.
India has been classified as a ‘flawed democracy along with countries US, France, Brazil etc.

Ministry of Education has decided to name residential schools/ hostels funded under Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan(SSA)as Netaji SubhasChandra Bose residential schools/hostels.
SSA is an overarching programme for the school education sector extending from pre-school to class 12, with the broader goal of improving school effectiveness measured in terms of equal opportunities for schooling and equitable learning outcomes.
It subsumed Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan and TeacherEducation.

The 1st High Level Dialogue (HLD), co-chaired by the Minister of Commerce and Industry Shri Piyush Goyal and the European Union Executive Vice-President and Trade Commissioner Mr. Valdis Dombrovskis, was held on 5th February 2021.

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Commitment to the establishment of this Dialogue was a major outcome of the 15th India-EU Leaders Summit held in July 2020, with an objective for a Ministerial level guidance towards the bilateral trade and investment relations.
The Ministers also agreed to meet within the next three months, with an objective for reaching consensus on a host of bilateral trade and investment cooperation issues viz. a bilateral Regulatory Dialogue; an India-EU Multilateral Dialogue to explore further possibilities of cooperation; etc.

The 1st meeting of the Joint Working Group in the field of Renewable Energy between India and the Kingdom of Bahrain held in virtual format.
A Memorandum of Understanding between India and Bahrain was signed in July 2018 for promoting bilateral cooperation in the field of Renewable Energy.
The meeting took place in a cordial and friendly atmosphere.
It was agreed to hold next round of JWG meeting at a mutually convenient dates, which will be decided through diplomatic channels.

MCA21 is an e-Governance initiative of Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) that enables an easy and secure access of MCA services to the corporate entities, professionals and citizens of India.
During 2021-22, MCA21 3.0 would be launched.
It is a technology-driven project envisioned to strengthen enforcement, promote Ease of Doing Business,enhance user experience, facilitate seamless integration and data exchange among Regulators.
It will have additional modules for e-Adjudication, e-Consultation and Compliance Management.

A library movement developed in a short span of time in Jharkhand’s Jamtara district is receiving a steady flow of students.

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The district now has 45 functioning public libraries. Unused government buildings have been renovated and turned into public libraries.
The district’s love of books is of enormous importance as it has the dubious distinction of being the “phishing capital of India”.
Many young people, mostly high school dropouts Age range 15 to 35 years old have turned to cyber crime for a few quick bucks.
Police personnel from 22 out of 28 Indian States have visited the tiny district in search of cyber fraudsters in the past few years. It is said that the majority of online fraud calls received by people across the country emanate from the district.
Netflix’s 2020 crime drama, Jamtara, was based on this.
As many as 93 cyber criminals are languishing in Jamtara’s jails, while 156 online fraudsters were arrested in 74 different cases in 2020.