Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 08 October 2020

::NATIONAL::

Supreme court claims indefinite occupation of public places for protests as unacceptable

The Supreme Court on Wednesday found the indefinite “occupation” of a public road by the Shaheen Bagh protesters unacceptable.
The court said the protest, considered an iconic dissent mounted by mothers, children and senior citizens of Shaheen Bagh against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, became inconvenient to commuters.
The court suggested that the outcry may have even gone out of hand for the women protesters. It referred to reports about how women were ensconced inside a tent while a “huge periphery” of “male protesters, volunteers and bystanders”, who wanted the blockade to continue, milled around.
The court noted that Shaheen Bagh seemed typical of the many digitally-fuelled “leaderless” events of dissent seen in modern times. Technology and social media could both empower and weaken mass movements.
The court held it was entirely the responsibility of the administration to prevent encroachments in public spaces. They should do so without waiting for courts to pass suitable orders.

Cabinet approves ratification of chemical under Stockholm convention

The Union Cabinet has approved the ratification of seven chemicals listed under Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs).
The Cabinet further delegated its powers to ratify chemicals under the Stockholm Convention to Union Ministers of External Affairs and Environment, Forest and Climate Change with regard to POPs already regulated under the domestic regulations thereby streamlining the procedure.

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::ECONOMY::

First ever brand name and logo for Indian cotton launched

Minister of Textiles Smriti Irani yesterday launched the first ever Brand and Logo for Indian Cotton on Second World Cotton Day through video conferencing.
Now India’s premium cotton would be known as ‘Kasturi Cotton’ in the world cotton trade. The Kasturi Cotton brand will represent Whiteness, Brightness, Softness, Purity, Luster, Uniqueness and Indianness.Speaking on this occasion, Ms Irani said, this is a much awaited moment as the Indian Cotton has been endowed with a Brand and Logo.
The Minister recounted the importance of cotton in Indian economy. She said, cotton is one of the principal commercial crops of the country and it provides livelihood to about six million cotton farmers. She said, India is the second largest cotton producer and the largest consumer of cotton in the world.
It produces about six million tonnes of cotton every year which is about 23 per cent of the world cotton. She said, India produces about 51 per cent of the total organic cotton production of the world, which demonstrates India’s effort towards sustainability.
Ms Irani also said that Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) made ever highest Minimum Support Price (MSP) operation of cotton. She hoped that during the new cotton season, the procurement under MSP will be increased.

Government plans to bring in major reforms for natural gas marketing in the country

Government today gave nod to major reforms in marketing of Natural Gas in the country. The Cabinet under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the reforms to push usage of Natural Gas.
Briefing media in New Delhi, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that the government will initiate standardised e-bidding for bringing transparency in the price of Natural Gas in the country.
Railway Minister Piyush Goyal informed that the Cabinet has also given its approval for the revised estimate cost for East West Corridor of the Kolkata Metro Rail Project. He said that the project that would incur an estimated cost of nearly 8 thousand 575 crore rupees will be open for the public in December 2021.
Mr. Goyal said the total Route length of the East-West Metro Corridor in Kolkata will be 16.6 kilometre and will have 12 stations. The minister asserted that the project will ease traffic congestion, enhance urban connectivity and provide a cleaner mobility solution to lakhs of daily commuters in Kolkata.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

Cabinet approves Indo-Japanese MoU on cybersecurity

The Government has given its nod to major reforms in the marketing of Natural Gas in the country. The Cabinet, under the chairmanship of Prime Minister, approved the reforms to push the usage of Natural Gas.
Briefing the media in New Delhi, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that the government will initiate standardised e-bidding for bringing transparency in the price of Natural Gas in the country.
Railway Minister Piyush Goyal informed that the Cabinet has also given its approval for the revised estimate cost for East West Corridor of the Kolkata Metro Rail Project.
Mr Goyal said that the project, with an estimated cost of nearly 8 thousand 575 crore rupees, will be open for the public by December 2021. He said the total Route length of the East-West Metro Corridor in Kolkata will be 16.6 kilometre and will have 12 stations.
The cabinet also gave its approval for signing a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) in the field of cyber-security between India and Japan.
The MoC will enhance cooperation in areas of mutual interest, which includes capacity building in the area of cyberspace, protection of critical infrastructure, cooperation in emerging technologies, sharing information on cyber security threats and malicious cyber activities.Another MoU was signed between Zoological Survey of India and its Canadian Counterpart on bar coding of faunal Genomes.

World Bank projects global extreme poverty to rise first time in 20 years

Global extreme poverty is expected to rise for the first time in 20 years because of the disruption caused by COVID-19, exacerbating the impact of conflict and climate change, which were already slowing down poverty reduction, the World Bank said on Tuesday.
The pandemic may push another 88 million to 115 million into extreme poverty or having to live on less than $1.50 per day, resulting in a total of 150 million such individuals, the Bank said in its biennial Poverty and Shared Prosperity Report.
Some 9.1% to 9.4% of the world will be affected by extreme poverty in 2020, the Bank said, compared to 7.9% in the counterfactual scenario where the pandemic had not raged across the world.
Many of the newly poor individuals will be from countries that already have high poverty rates while many in middle income countries (MICs) will slip below the poverty line, as per the report. Some 82% of the total will be in MICs.
Sub-Saharan Africa, with 27-40 million new poor, and South Asia, with 49-57 million new poor, will be badly hit as per the Bank’s projections.

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::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

CSIRO study finds huge deposits of microplastics on seafloor

The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), an Australian government agency has recently found that the world sea floor is littered with more than 14 million tonnes of microplastics. These microplastics have entered the floor Through The breakdown of masses of rubbish entering the oceans annually.
The Australian National Science agency has found that the tiny pollutants of the South Australian coast are 25 times greater than that of the previous localised studies. This is the first time the sea floor microplastic study has been carried out.
Though the microplastics get accumulated on the the sea floor bed, they can be dangerous to Marine organisms. This is because the ocean currents are the main source of oxygenated water and nutrients to see floor Hotspots.
These currents deposit nutrients Carried a long way and thereby help developing deep sea floor hotspots and deep sea coral reefs.

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::SPORTS::

Australian women team wins over Newzealand in 3rd ODI

Australia demolished New Zealand by 232 runs in the third women’s One-Day international to equal the world record of 21 consecutive ODI victories set by Ricky Ponting’s all-conquering men’s team in 2003.
After smashing 325 for five off 50 overs, the Australians then bowled New Zealand out for just 93 to record their biggest ever win against the Kiwis.

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