Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 10 March 2020

::NATIONAL::

After several years of rising trends, the Centre has reduced the percentage allocation of funds for education of schoolchildren from SC and ST communities as well as for the north-eastern region in the coming year.
A parliamentary panel expressed concern that any shortage of funds for these marginalised communities could be critical, especially given that more than one in five SC and ST students drops out of school at the secondary level.
For at least three years, the amounts allocated to these groups have been on the rise in comparison to total allocations for the department. However, the percentage allotted to these communities dipped in 2020-21.
Out of a total ₹59,845 crore allotted to the Department of School Education and Literacy, 17.16% went to the Scheduled Castes Sub Plan (SCSP) in comparison to 18.14% the previous year.
For the tribal sub-plan, the allocation was 9.8% in comparison to 10.3% the previous year, while the North Eastern Region (NER) received 8.7% in comparison to 9.2% the previous year.

As much as 67% of donations to national parties in 2018-19 came from “unknown sources,” an increase from 53% in the previous financial year, said a report released by the Association for Democratic Reforms on Monday.
The ADR analysed the income tax returns and donation statements submitted to the Election Commission by the BJP, the Congress, the Trinamool, the Communist Party of India, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Nationalist Congress Party and the BahujanSamaj Party.....................

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday said it has received ₹48,856 crore worth of bids in the fourth long-term reverse repo operation (LTROs) conducted for an amount of ₹25,000crore with a three-year tenor.The RBI received 37 bids in the LTRO with a reversal date on March 7, 2023.
“The total bids that were received amounted to ₹48,856 crore, implying a bid-to-cover ratio (i.e., the amount of bids received relative to the notified amount) of 2,” the RBI said in a release. The RBI allotted an amount of ₹25,021 crore with a pro-rata allotment percentage of 51.18%.
Last week, the apex bank received ₹1.719 lakh crore in the LTRO conducted for an amount of ₹25,000 crore with a three-year tenor.
The RBI conducted two LTROs with three-year and one-year tenors for ₹25,000 crore each on February 17 and February 24, respectively.It will also conduct LTROs of ₹25,000 crore each on March 30 and March 31.

The rapid spread of the deadly Novel Corona virus is expected to take a serious toll on foreign direct investments worldwide, with UN economists forecasting a drop of up to 15 percent...............

United Nations has adopted a stripped-down political declaration on women's rights that seeks to preserve gains under threat but does not advocate new ways to ensure progress toward equality.
The declaration was adopted during the 64th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, which has been drastically reduced from a two-week affair to a single hours-long meeting because of the global coronavirus outbreak.
Twelve thousand participants were originally set to take part. But Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged member states not to send delegations to New York, and to cancel debates and other events surrounding the meeting -- the UN's second-largest each year after the General Assembly.
Addressing the meeting, the Secretary-General said, Centuries of discrimination, deep-rooted patriarchy and misogyny have created a yawning gender power gap in our economies, our political systems and our corporations.
On the question of violence against women -- highlighted by the "MeToo" movement against sexual abuse -- the signatories commit to "eliminating, preventing and responding to all forms of violence and harmful practices against all women and girls, in public and private spheres, including in digital contexts."
They also pledge to fight against "human trafficking and modern slavery and other forms of exploitation," and to ensure just treatment and provide support services for "all women victims of violence."

Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani was sworn in for a second term today as his rival Abdullah Abdullah held a parallel inauguration that could plunge the country deeper into crisis ahead of peace talks with the Taliban.
The oath-taking ceremony of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani was attended by hundreds of people, including visiting foreign dignitaries, diplomats and senior political figures.

India has finally shared two whole genome sequence data of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) with the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID).
The two sequences were shared by the Pune-based National Institute of Virology. This news comes after The Hindu reported on March 4 that India has not shared any genome sequence data with the GISAID.
In a tweet on March 6 evening, Newstrain said it has “updated” the database with “two SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Kerala sampled at the end of January”. It added: “These sequences do not link very closely to other sequences in the tree.”

Former India opener WasimJaffer announced his retirement from all forms of cricket in Mumbai today.
The 42-year-old Jaffer had amassed a mountain of runs in a glorious first-class career that spanned almost a quarter-century.