Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 11 October 2020

::NATIONAL::

MHA asks states to follow SOP in crimes against women

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued an advisory to all States regarding “mandatory action by the police in crimes against women”.
The Ministry reiterated that the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, provides that the statement, written or verbal, by a person who is dead shall be treated as relevant fact in the investigation.
“In order to facilitate the State police to monitor compliance, in this regard MHA has provided an online portal called Investigation Tracking System for Sexual Offences for monitoring the same. This is available exclusively to law enforcement officers,” the Ministry said.
It reminded the States regarding compulsory registration of FIR in cases of cognisable offences.
“The law also enables the police to register FIR or a ‘Zero FIR’ (in case the crime is committed outside the jurisdiction of police station) in the event of receipt of information on commission of a cognizable offence, which includes cases of sexual assault on women,” the MHA said.
The MHA also asked States to adhere to the guidelines issued by the Directorate of Forensic Science Services for collection, preservation and transportation of forensic evidence in sexual assault cases.
“In order to facilitate the State Police, Bureau of Police Research and Development has issued Sexual Assault Evidence CollectionKits to every State/UT. It is necessary to use these SAEC kits in every case of sexual assault reported,” it said.

Interview for jobs abolished in majority of states/UT’s

Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Dr Jitendra Singh has said that so far, interview for jobs has been abolished in 23 States and eight Union Territories of India.
He said, this is a follow up to the abolition of interview for Group-B (Non-Gazetted) and Group-C posts in the Central Government ever since 2016.
Dr Singh said, in the past, there had been complaints, grievances and allegations about marks in interviews being manipulated to help certain favoured candidates. He said, the abolition of interview and considering only the written test marks as merit for selection, offers an equal level-playing field to all the candidates.
The Minister said, several states have also reported heavy savings on the State Exchequer because quite a substantial expenditure was being incurred in conducting interviews of candidates whose number often ran in thousands and the interview process continued for several days together.

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::ECONOMY::

RBI seeks permission to limit extension of loan moratorium

The Reserve Bank of India submitted to the Supreme Court that a loan moratorium exceeding six months might result in vitiating the overall credit discipline, which will have a debilitating impact on the process of credit creation in the economy.
In an affidavit filed in the apex court in the loan moratorium case, the RBI has said that a long moratorium period could impact credit behaviour of borrowers and increase the risks of delinquencies post resumption of scheduled payments.
The banking regulator filed the affidavit in pursuance to the apex court's October 5 order asking the Centre and the RBI to place on record the K V Kamath committee recommendations on debt restructuring because of COVID-19 related stress on various sectors as well as the notifications and circulars issued so far on loan moratorium.
In its affidavit, the RBI has said that any waiver of interest on interest would entail significant economic costs which cannot be absorbed by the banks without serious dent of their finances which would have huge implications for the depositors and the broader financial stability.
The RBI has said that mere continuation of the temporary moratorium would not even be in the interest of borrowers.The affidavit said the RBI has been the most proactive in announcing several measures to mitigate the impact of COVID-19.

Procurement of paddy improves by 48 percent across states

Government has said that the total procurement of Paddy across all States in the country has increased by 48 per cent from 17.7 Lakh tonne last year to over 26 lakh tonne this year.
The Agriculture Ministry said, in the ongoingKharif Season, Punjab registered an unprecedented increase of procurement from 1.76 lakh tonne last year to around 16 lakh tonne this year, which is more than 900 per cent of the Kharif procurement so far as compared to last year.
The Ministry said, in Tamil Nadu, paddy procurement was nine thousand 517 tonne as against 320 tonne.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

Ministry of external affairs hails potential of NAM

Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan has said that the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) has potential to take lead in addressing the primary issues of current times that demand global cooperation.
Addressing the virtual Ministerial Meeting of the NAM, Mr Muraleedharan said, individual members must stop and think before raising issues that are not on the agenda and which find no resonance in the wider membership. He said, the NAM never was and never can be a platform for pursuits aimed at undermining the territorial integrity of a State by another State.
The Minister said, terrorism and their enablers continue to spread their tentacles unabated. Misinformation and fake news are wreaking havoc on social cohesion and collective security.
Climate change has become an existential threat, especially to the most vulnerable Small Island Developing States or SIDS countries. He said, Cyber security threats and the uneven impact of frontier technologies are causing turbulence.
Mr Muraleedharan said, COVID-19 has reminded us of our interconnectedness, and dependence on each other as one cannot fight this adversary alone.

Taiwan asks China to de-escalate military tensions

Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen has appealed to her Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to de-escalate military tensions and live up to his promise to never seek hegemony.
In a speech on Taiwan’s national day, the President said, the international community is becoming concerned about the expanding hegemony of China.
China’s military has piled on pressure even more than usual this year, sending its warplanes into Taiwan’s air defence zone at unprecedented frequency and sometimes also crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait.

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::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

DRDO test fires anti-radiation missile

A new-generation anti-radiation missile, RudraM-I, was successfully flight-tested on Friday by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). This is the first indigenous anti-radiation missile.
An anti-radiation missile can locate and target radiation-emitting sources such as enemy radars, communication sites and other radio frequency-emitting targets. They can play a key role in neutralising any jamming platforms of the enemy or take out radar stations, thereby clearing a path for fighter jets to carry out an offensive and prevent own systems from being jammed.
The missile, integrated with the SU-30 MkI aircraft, has a capability of varying ranges based on the launch conditions. Having the Inertial Navigation System (INS)-Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation with Passive Homing Head (PHH) for the final attack, it is a potent weapon for the Indian Air Force for suppression of enemy air defence effectively from large stand-off ranges, the DRDO said.
Another source said that once the SU-30 MkI approached the target, the launch processor in the launcher, the on-board computer and the passive seeker in the missile worked in unison to display the required mission data to the pilot. “After completion of alignment of navigation system of the missile, the dynamic launch zone was displayed to the pilot,” the source said.
The NGARM is being developed by Defence Research Development Laboratory (DRDL), Hyderabad, as the nodal agency. It is a joint effort involving DRDO labs, the IAF, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. and several public and private sector enterprises.

::SPORTS::

ihalSarin wins Chess.com's 2020 online championship

In Chess, Young Indian player NihalSarin emerged winner in the Chess.com's 2020 Junior Speed Online Championship in Chennai, beating Russia's world junior No. 6 Alexey Sarana 18-7 in the final.
The title win earned the 16-year old Sarin 8,766 US Dollars and enabled him to qualify for the 2020 Speed Chess Championship Final which will feature the world's best players.

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