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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 09 April 2020

::NATIONAL::

States request centre to expand lockdown period

Interacting with leaders of political parties in Parliament, through video conferencing, the Prime Minister said that several state governments, district administrations and experts have asked for extension of the phase of lockdown to contain the spread of the virus.
He noted that in these changing circumstances, the country should simultaneously try to bring about a change in its work culture and working style. The Prime Minister said, the country is facing serious economic challenges as a result of COVID-19, and the government is committed to overcome it.
Saying that the entire world is currently facing the grave challenge of COVID-19, Mr.Modi added that the present situation is an epoch changing event in mankind's history and India must evolve to counter its impact.
He praised the efforts of state governments working together with the Centre in this fight against the pandemic. Mr Modi said that the country has witnessed constructive and positive politics through the coming together of all sections of polity to present a united front in this battle.

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WCD ministry rolls out steps for women’s safety

The government and its machinery are working for women who seek protection — Union Women and Child Development Minister SmritiIrani sought to send out this message through a video-conference on Wednesday with institutes associated with her Ministry.
The appeal comes at a time gender rights activists and the U.N. have called for the need to boost helplines, psycho-social support and online counselling as well as demanded that these be declared essential services so that women in distress can continue to access help.
The National Commission of Women has recorded a more than two-fold rise in domestic violence and sexual assaults and a three-fold increase in cases of police apathy in the first week of lockdown since March 24.
Ms.Irani instructed officials of her Ministry to ensure that One Stop Centres, which provide legal and psycho-social help to survivors of gender-based violence, are linked with local medical teams, police and the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) so that their services are not impacted due to restrictions on movement.
“Under lockdown, we must use digital governance to ensure safety of women which must be replicated at the State-level and with NGOs so that there is no deficit of either information or help,” Ms Irani said, ordering a senior official to hold a discussion with a State every second day.

::ECONOMY::

Govt.departments asked to cut their expenditures amid fund shortages

With the Centre expecting an extreme cash crunch due to the COVID-19 crisis, most Central government departments have been asked to cut their first quarter expenditure to 15-20% of the year’s budget estimates (BE).
Departments considered crucial to dealing with the pandemic and the resultant lockdown will not be affected by these restrictions, including Health, Pharma and Ayush, Agriculture, Rural Development and Textiles, Food and Consumer Affairs, as well as Civil Aviation and Railways. Transfers to States will also not be reduced.
However, several development sector Ministries including those dealing with education, tribal welfare, women and children, social justice and labour have been asked to restrict expenditure to 15% of BE.
The economic slowdown had already spurred the Finance Ministry to cap spending in the last quarter of 2019-20 (January-March 2020) to 25% of BE, from the earlier 33%.
Another 31 departments have been asked to restrict expenditure to 20% of BE. This includes the Cabinet, the Houses of Parliament and Police. The Ministries of Home, External Affairs and some departments of Defence and Finance are also included in this category, as are transfers to union territories, including Delhi.

WTO expects global trade to plummet amid COVID pandemic

The World Trade Organisation today said that global trade growth is expected to plummet by up to a third in 2020 due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
It has warned that the numbers would be ugly and world trade is expected to fall by between 13 percent and 32 percent in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupts normal economic activity and life around the world.
WTO said in a statement that there were a wide range of possibilities for how trade would be hit by the unprecedented health crisis. However, WTO chief Roberto Azevedo warned the downturn may well be the deepest economic recession or downturn of our lifetimes.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

SAARC nations discuss COVID impact on regional trade

A video conference of senior trade officials of all SAARC countries was held yesterday to discuss the impact of travel restrictions and the larger Covid-19 situation on intra-regional trade.
This was a follow up action of the announcement made by Prime Minister NarendraModi at the Video Conference of SAARC Leaders on 15th of March.
External Affairs Ministry said in a release that all SAARC countries, except Pakistan, participated in the video conference. All countries contributed actively to the discussions on a wide-ranging trade related agenda.
It was recognized that the Covid-19 pandemic is likely to have a considerable adverse impact on trade in the SAARC region. It was stressed that new ways and means be jointly identified to sustain and expand the intra-regional trade until the normal trade channels are fully restored. The need to maintain essential trade within the SAARC region was viewed as an important thrust area.
All participating countries proposed to remain in close and regular touch through a designated focal point in each country. The Indian side offered to coordinate this exercise.

UN suspends deployment of peacekeepers till june last

UN Chief Antonio Guterres has suspended the rotation and deployments of the peacekeepers until 30th of June to mitigate the risk of transmission of the novel Coronavirus.
Speaking at his daily press briefing yesterday, UN Chief's spokesperson StephaneDujarric said that their priorities are to ensure the COVID-19-free status of incoming uniformed personnel, and mitigate the risk that UN peacekeepers could be a contagion vector while simultaneously maintaining their operational capabilities.
Mr Dujarric said to prevent and contain the risk of transmission of the deadly virus, rotation and deployments of individual officers and police and military units has been suspended until June 30 and the decision has been transmitted to all Troop and Police Contributing Countries, as well as to all relevant peace operations.

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::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

Experts say poaching threatening wildlife amid COVID lock down

Wildlife scientist UllasKaranth, an expert on tiger conservation, has cautioned that a spurt in poaching during the lockdown period poses a greater threat to wildlife than the coronavirus.
The warning came after the advisory issued by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the Wildlife Division of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change for immediate preventive measures to stop the spread of the virus from humans to animals and vice versa in national parks, sanctuaries and tiger reserves.
The advisory came after a tiger at the Bronx zoo in the U.S. tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Dr.Karanth worked for three decades with the organisation that runs the zoo, the Wildlife Conservation Society.
Dr.Karanth pointed out that wild tiger populations had high birth rates and high annual mortality rates and the coronavirus-related threats were highly unlikely to cause population declines.
He cited incidents in Kodagu and Shivamogga, reported in recent days [involving sale of deer meat.] The police were busy otherwise, and forest officials faced movement constraints, emboldening a new wave of poachers, he said.
Responding to the issue, Karnataka Forest Department officials said they had taken precautionary measures while handling captive animals, without relaxing anti-poaching activities.
The ban on domestic meat sale early in the lockdown may have added to poaching. But the meat sale ban had been lifted and protection stepped up.

::SPORTS::

Ben Stokes win Wisden leading cricketer award

Ben Stokes has ended ViratKohli’s three-year reign as Wisden’s leading cricketer in the world after playing a starring role in England’s World Cup win last year. Australia’s Ellyse Perry reclaimed the leading women’s cricketer in the world title from SmritiMandhana.
Stokes, the first England player to receive the honour since Andrew Flintoff in 2005, had won the ICC player of the year award.
England pace bowler Jofra Archer, who bowled the Super Over in the World Cup final, is among Wisden’s five cricketers of the year.

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