Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 10 April 2020

::NATIONAL::

Centre issues advisory to prevent social stigma associated with pandemic

Health and Family Welfare Ministry has issued an advisory to stop the social stigma associated with the Covid-19. The advisory stated that public health emergencies during outbreak of communicable diseases may cause fear and anxiety leading to prejudices and social stigma against people and communities.
Such behaviour may culminate into increased hostility, chaos and unnecessary social disruptions. This advisory came in the wake of reported cases wherein corona patients, frontline workers like Doctors and nurses, certain communities and areas faced discrimination due to fear and misinformation about corona virus.
AIR correspondent reports, Health Ministry has urged on the need to counter such prejudices and advised that through social distancing and personal hygine, this disease can be eliminated. It has been advised to the people to follow certain steps to end the social stigma associated with novel coronavirus.
Healthcare professionals and sanitary workers who are providing their services in this difficult situation, deserve people’s support and appreciation. Do not target healthcare professionals, sanitary workers and police.

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Centre askes states to implement market intervention scheme

Fruit and vegetable farmers have been among the hardest hit by the lockdown imposed to contain the spread of COVID-19, facing major losses due to obstacles in harvesting and marketing their perishable produce.
The Centre has now directed all the States and Union Territories to implement the Market Intervention Scheme to ensure good prices for perishable crops.
It has also begun a train service to transport perishable agricultural and horticultural commodities to markets due to the obstacles in road transport. On Thursday, 50 trains were deployed for this purpose, an Agriculture Ministry statement said.
The Centre has extended the procurement window for its Price Support Scheme, under which the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED) and other agencies procure pulses and oilseeds, up to 90 days from the date of commencement of the scheme in each State. It has also hiked the daily procurement limit from 25 quintals to 40 quintals per farmer for the rabi season.
The limit ensures that all farmers get an equal chance to sell their produce. Buttransport restrictions make it difficult for farmers to repeatedly bring their produce for procurement, leading to this relaxation.

::ECONOMY::

RBI expects inflation drop to 2.4%

The consumer price index (CPI)-based inflation, which had stayed elevated in the last few months, is expected to soften during the course of the financial year, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its monetary policy report (MPR).
The MPR was released on Thursday. The report follows the unscheduled monetary policy meeting held in end March to discuss the uncertainties arising from the nationwide lockdown. Since the review was conducted in end March, the early policy review, scheduled for April, was withdrawn.
The RBI said relatively modest upsides are expected to emanate from monetary, fiscal and other policy measures and the early containment of COVID-19, if that occurs. However, it added, such uncertainties make the forecasting of inflation and growth highly challenging.
On exchange rates, the central bank said renewed bouts of global financial market volatility caused by the uncertainty of macroeconomic impact of the COVID-19, as in February-March 2020, could exert pressure on the Indian rupee.
In contrast, should COVID-19 normalise quickly, strong capital flows could revive. An appreciation of the rupee by 5% could moderate inflation by around 20 bps and GDP growth by around 15 bps vis-a-vis the baseline,” the RBI said.

Equity mutual funds witness highest inflow in 2 years

Equity mutual fund (MF) schemes saw the highest-ever monthly inflows in two years as investors looked to invest at a time when most shares are available at highly beaten-down valuations even as the month saw overall industry outflows at the highest quantum since September 2018.
In March, the net inflow into equity schemes was pegged at ₹11,722.74 crore, as per data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI). This was the highest monthly inflow since February 2018 when such schemes registered inflows of ₹14,683 crore.
“Instead of exiting their investment in equity funds, retail investors have not only held on, but added more assets and folios through SIPs,” said N. S. Venkatesh, chief executive, AMFI.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

India rejects Chinese reference to Jammu & Kashmir at UN

India has rejected the reference to Jammu and Kashmir in a statement made by spokesperson of the Permanent Mission of China to the United Nations. In response to queries, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson AnuragSrivastava said China is well aware of India’s consistent position on this issue.
He said Jammu and Kashmir has been, is and shall continue to be an integral part of India and issues related to it are internal matter to India.
The spokesperson said India therefore expects that other countries, including China, would refrain from commenting on matters that are internal affairs and respect India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
He said New Delhi also expects Beijing to recognise and condemn the scourge of cross-border terrorism that affect the lives of the people of India, including in Jammu and Kashmir.

Oil producers decide to cut oil output after demand collapse

Top oil producers started a crucial meeting on Thursday to discuss a possible cut in output after a collapse in demand due to the coronavirus and a Saudi-Russian price war caused the market to crash.
The videoconference meeting began between OPEC, its OPEC+ allies, including Russia and other key non-members.
Oil prices rose sharply as the meeting opened, extending earlier big gains, but then fell back again later to post more modest gains as nervous traders took profits.
The meeting is seen as the best chance of providing support to prices which have been wallowing near two-decade lows.
Experts warn that without concerted action the commodity risks a steep sell-off. Last week U.S. President Donald Trump claimed Russia and Saudi Arabia would step back from their stand-off and agree to slash output.
Then OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia called for an urgent meeting of producers “to try to reach a fair deal” to “stabilise the oil market” following a phone call between its Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Mr. Trump.
Thursday’s meeting intends to conclude an agreement to cut production by between 10 and 15 million barrels per day, Kuwait’s Oil Minister Khaled al-Fadhel said in an interview with the Kuwaiti Al-Raidaily.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

Indian farmer develops bio fortified carrot

A farmer scientist of Junagadh district, Gujarat ShriVallabhaiVastambhaiMarvaniya developed biofortified carrots. The carrots are locally called “MdhubanGajar”. It is rich in β-carotene and iron.
The biofortified carrot variety is benefiting more than 150 local farmers. The yield of the variety is 40 to 50 tonnes per hectare. The variety has been cultivated in over 1000 hectares of land this season.
The biofortified carrot has been developed through selection method. It has 277.75 mg/kg of β-Carotene and 276.7 mg/kg of iron.
The validation trials of the carrot was conducted by National Innovation Foundation that operates under Department of Science and Technology
The farmer scientist was awarded with Padma Shri in 2019 for his contribution in the field of agriculture and in specific to carrots.
The farmer scientist found that a local carrot variety used as fodder improved milk quality greatly. He started growing the carrot in large scale. In 1985, he began selling the carrots on a large scale.

::SPORTS::

Spanish football giants real Madrid accepts 20 % pay cut due to COVID

Real Madrid players have agreed to cut their salaries by as much as a fifth, the LaLiga club announced on Wednesday, as Spanish football remains on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In a statement, Real Madrid said players and coaches from the side’s football and basketball teams, as well as key directors, had voluntarily agreed to the reduction, of either 10 or 20%, “depending on the circumstances that may affect the closing of the current 2019/20 season”.

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