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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 02 June 2020

Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 01 June 2020

::NATIONAL::

Parliament considering meeting on alternate days

The options of the RajyaSabha and the LokSabha meeting on alternate days to decongest the Parliament complex and each moving into a larger space to ensure social distancing were discussed by Upper House Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu and Speaker Om Birla at a meeting on Monday, sources said.
The presiding officers’ meeting to discuss the conduct of the monsoon session of Parliament comes amid demands by Opposition parties to hold parliamentary standing committee meetings through videoconference and to resume the functioning of Parliament itself. The budget session ended abruptly on March 23 due to the pandemic.
The two, according to the sources, agreed that technology must be adopted to enable Parliament session as a long term option as the pandemic might continue for some more time.
They noted that since there was no requirement of maintaining confidentiality of the proceedings of the Houses, which were open to the general public besides being telecast live, virtual Parliament was an option to be explored.

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NPCI denies data breach from BHIM application

Following a report by security researchers alleging leak of personal data of millions of users of the BHIM payment application due to a website breach, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) on Monday denied the claim, asking “everyone to not fall prey to such speculation”.
The report by vpnMentor alleged that 409-gigabyte of data, comprising 7.26 million records, were leaked, and the trove included personal identifiable information such as Aadhaar details, residence proof, bank records and complete profiles.
The vpn Mentor’s website claims it is the world’s largest VPN review website and its research lab is a pro bono service that strives to help the online community defend itself against cyberthreats while educating organisations on protecting their users’ data.
The report explained that S3 buckets were a popular form of cloud storage across the world but required developers to set up the security protocols on their accounts.
The researchers said that after receiving no reply from the website’s developers, they reached out to India’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) twice, following which the breach was closed.
“We have come across some news reports which suggest data breach at BHIM app. We would like to clarify that there has been no data compromise at BHIM App and request everyone not fall prey to such speculation. NPCI follows high level of security and an integrated approach to protect its infrastructure and continue to provide a robust payments ecosystem,” NPCI said in a statement.

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::ECONOMY::

PSB’s set to sell bad loans worth 20thousand crores

An estimated Rs 20,000 crore worth of bad loans from state-run banks are up for sale to asset reconstruction companies as banks prepare for a fire sale due to suspension of the bankruptcy law which has blurred the recovery horizon, said bankers familiar with the development.
Banks are looking to sell these loans to avoid higher provisioning requirements on NCLT accounts as resolution dates get longer due to the government’s decision to suspend the bankruptcy law. These banks are yet to come out with a formal list of loans on sale as back channel talks with asset reconstruction companies are ongoing.
Indian banks have been saddled with bad loans of over Rs 9 lakh crore, nearly 9.5% of the banking system loans. This is estimated to rise to 11.5% due to shutdown of businesses. The Covid-19 pandemic has also worsened the backlog of cases at bankruptcy tribunals across the country.
At the end of March, the National Company Law Tribunal had admitted 3,774 companies to be tried under the bankruptcy law. Of them, 738 cases had exceeded the 270-day resolution timeline while another 494 cases were being heard for more than 180 days.

SEBI may allow non profit organisations to get listed

A working group constituted by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on social stock exchanges has recommended allowing non-profit organisations to directly list on such platforms while allowing certain tax incentives to encourage participation on the platform.
The idea of a social stock exchange (SSE) for listing of social enterprise and voluntary organisations was mooted by Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman while presenting the Union Budget 2019-20.
According to a release issued by the capital markets regulator, the group has recommended allowing non-profit organisations to directly list through issuance of bonds while recommending a range of funding avenues, including some of the existing mechanisms such as Social Venture Funds (SVFs) under Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs).
The group has also suggested a new minimum reporting standard for organisations that raise funds on social stock exchanges.
It also suggested that for-profit social enterprises be allowed to list on the platform but with enhanced reporting requirements. The working group has also suggested that the social stock exchange can be housed within the existing national bourses like the BSE and the National Stock Exchange.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

Australia not to interfere in Indo-China border issue

Australia would not “interfere” in the ongoing situation between India and China at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), said its High Commissioner to India, indicating a different line from the U.S. on the issue.
Prime Minister NarendraModi and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison are due to speak at a “virtual” bilateral summit on Thursday, where the two sides are expected to strengthen strategic cooperation and announce a Mutual Logistics Supply Agreement (MLSA) for the reciprocal use of each other’s bases and other military facilities.
Australia and China are currently are locked in tensions as well over a range of issues, from trade and the coronavirus pandemic to China’s moves in the South China Sea. However, the envoy made it clear that the issues would be kept separate from India’s current tensions over the Chinese army action on the LAC in Ladakh and Sikkim.
Australia had submitted a draft of the MLSA soon after India signed a similar “foundational agreement” with the U.S. in 2016, and it has taken nearly four years to negotiate. India was likely to sign LSAs with Russia, Japan and the U.K. as well in the near future, said officials.

ADB approves loans for infrastructure development in Maharashtra

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Thursday signed a USD 177 million loan to upgrade 450 km of state highways and major district roads in Maharashtra.
Under the Maharashtra state road improvement project, two major district roads and 11 state highways, with combined length of 450 km will be upgraded to two-lane standard across seven districts.
The projects would improve connectivity to national highways, interstate roads, seaports, airports, rail hubs, district headquarters, industrial areas, enterprise clusters and agricultural areas.
The project will also focus on training the Maharashtra Public Works Department project staff to build their capacity in climate change adaptation and disaster resilient features in road design, road maintenance planning and road safety, the release said.
He further said the project is to update road maintenance system by encouraging five-year performance-based maintenance obligations to contractors to sustain asset quality and service levels.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

Astronauts discover new steroid near Jupiter

Astronauts have recently discovered a rare space object. The object looks like both asteroid and comet. The new space object is called Active Asteroid.
The asteroid has been named 2019 LD2. It has an orbit like an asteroid and a tail like a comet. The 2019 LD2 shares the orbit of Jupiter and is a partof the asteroid swarm called Jupiter Trojans.
The space object found is the first that emits gas just like a comet. The asteroid was discovered by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS).
The discovery has also provided evidence that the Jupiter Trojans have large amounts of ice beneath their surfaces. So far, there was no evidence for presence of ice beneath their surface.
The unique tail that makes the asteroid look like comet, according to the researchers is probably because of collision.The collision should have led to gas leak from the ice cracking and forming the tail.
Active Asteroids are celestial bodies that look like comet and have asteroid like orbit. The first active asteroid discovered was Elst Pizarro.

::SPORTS::

Two more boxers recommended for KhelRatna

The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) on Monday recommended names of World championships silver medallist AmitPanghal and former Worlds bronze medallist VikasKrishan for the Rajiv Gandhi KhelRatna Award.
The BFI recommended three other Worlds medallists — LovlinaBorgohain, SimranjitKaur and Manish Kaushik — for the Arjuna Award.
Panghal also won golds at the last Asian Games and Asian championships and a silver at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. He became the first male boxer from the country to win a silver at the World Championships last year.

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