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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 27 November 2020

::NATIONAL::

Lok Virasat

Films Division (FD) is organising Lok Virasat, a festival of films on folk art and painting starting from November 27, 2020.

About:

It is an exclusive bouquet of documentary films on folk art and paintings - Lok Virasat - is being showcased, between November 27–29, 2020 on FD website and You Tube channel.

The films being streamed include:

• The Kingdom of God, on the great Indian heritage of art and culture with focus on various folk-art traditions,
• Bhavai - Fading Memories, a film on Bhavai - a folk art of Gujarat,
• Naman – Khele, a film on the ancient folk art performed in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra,
• Sahi Jata, The Fusion Cult, a film on the unique fusion of muscle and music in the form of folk art on the back-drop of the ancient Orissa town of Puri and
• Therukoothu: Dancing forLife, a film depicting the age old Tamil folk art.

Several verdicts raise concerns of judicial overreach

Vice President said the Supreme Court and high courts had delivered several far-reaching verdicts in furtherance of socio-economic objectives besides making correctional interventions but concerns were raised whether orders
on Diwali fireworks,
monitoring of investigations and
making judicial appointments their preserve meant an intrusion into the domains of the legislature and the executive.

About:

Speaking at the 80th All India Presiding Officers’ Conference in Kevadia, he told there had been debates whether some issues should have been more legitimately left to the other organs of governance.
Deepavali fireworks, cess on registration and movement of vehicles from NCR through Delhi,
Banning use of vehicles of certain make after 10 or 15 years,
Monitoring police investigations,
Denying the executive any role in the appointment of judges by instituting collegium,
invalidating the National Judicial Accountability Commission Act seeking to ensure transparency and accountability are being cited as instances of judicial overreach.

He said the legislature, the executive and the judiciary were bound to work within their respective domains as defined in the Constitution. “This warrants a spirit of mutual respect, responsibility and restraint. Unfortunately, there have been several instances of crossing the boundaries,” he added.

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::ECONOMY::

National Investment andInfrastructure Fund

Government has proposed to provide equity capital of Rs. 6,000 crore to the debt platform sponsored by NIIFin the next 2 years.
NIIF is first sovereign wealth fund (by Govt of India) that seeks to create long-term value for domestic andinternational investors seeking investment in Greenfield, Brownfield and Stalled infrastructure projects.
It is registered with SEBI as a Category II Alternative Investment Fund with a planned corpus of Rs. 40,000 crore.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

UN at launch of hygiene fund

The United Nations earlier this month launched the Sanitation and Hygiene Fund to provide accelerated funding to countries with the heaviest burden of diseases stemming from lack of sanitation services and have the least ability to respond to them.
It also aims to raise $2 billion over the next five years for these countries.
The fund is hosted by the UN Office for Project Services, which provides technical advice and project implementation to the UN and its partners.

The objectives of the Fund are:

Expanding household sanitation
Ensuring menstrual health and hygiene
Providing sanitation and hygiene in schools and healthcare facilities
Supporting innovative sanitation solutions

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

Nyaya Bandhu app

Department of Justice has launched the iOS version of the Nyaya Bandhu Application and its onboardingon UMANG platform (MeiTY).
Nyaya Bandhu was launched in 2017 to establish a framework for dispensation of pro bono legal servicesacross the country.
It connects practicing advocates interested in pro bono work with eligible marginalised and vulnerablebeneficiaries, through Mobile Application.

Bioluminescence

Recently, blue tide was spotted along Maharashtra's shoreline which was produced due to fluorescent blue huefrom the process called bioluminescence.
Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by a living organism.
Blue light was characterised by the emission of light produced by phytoplanktons (microscopic marineplants), commonly known as dinoflagellates.
The light is produced through a series of chemical reactions due to luciferase (oxidative enzymes) protein.

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Sports

Chairman of International Cricket Council

New Zealand's Greg Barclay has been elected as the new independent chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC).
The head of the New Zealand Cricket team, NZC, Barclay beat Imran Khwaja in the second round of voting. Imran was interim chairman after Shashank Manohar stepped down from the post in July this year.
In the first round of voting last week, Barclay had 10 votes to Khwaja's six, and needed 11 votes for a two-thirds majority of the 16-person ICC Board.
That vote arrived from Cricket South Africa in a second round of voting. Barclay is the second independent chairman of the world body, after Shashank Manohar of India.

About him:

A commercial lawyer by trade, Barclay has served as a director of NZC since 2012.
He was a director of 2015 Men's World Cup, held in Australia and New Zealand.
He is also an experienced company director holding board positions with various New Zealand and Australian companies.