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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 19 October 2020

::NATIONAL::

SC shows delay in filing of appeals by central government

The Supreme Court has deprecated the “inordinate delays” by government authorities in filing appeals before it, and said they “must pay for wastage of judicial time” and such costs can be recovered from officers responsible.
A bench headed by Justice S K Kaul said the apex court cannot be a place for the governments to walk in when they choose ignoring the period of limitation prescribed in the statute.
The top court noted the explanation given in the application for condonation of delay which stated that it was due to unavailability of documents and process of arranging them and also that in “bureaucratic process works, it is inadvertent that delay occurs”.
The bench noted that such approach is being adopted and the object appears to be to obtain a certificate of dismissal from the Supreme Court to put a quietus to the issue and thus, say that nothing could be done because the highest court has dismissed the appeal.
It noted in its order that no doubt, some leeway is given for “government inefficiencies” but the sad part is that authorities keep on relying on judicial pronouncements for a period of time when technology had not advanced and a greater leeway was given to the government.

Survey finds 3/4 rural Indians cannot afford nutritious diet

Three out of four rural Indians cannot afford a nutritious diet, according to a paper recently published in journal Food Policy.
Even if they spent their entire income on food, almost two out of three of them would not have the money to pay for the cheapest possible diet that meets the requirements set by the government’s premier nutrition body, it says.
Unlike the Economic Survey’s ‘Thalinomics’, which provided a rosier picture of meal costs, this study uses the wages of unskilled workers who make up a larger proportion of the population than industrial workers, and includes items such as dairy, fruit and dark green leafy vegetables that are essential as per India’s official dietary guidelines.
The National Institute for Nutrition’s guidelines for a nutritionally adequate diet call for adult women to eat 330 gm of cereals and 75 gm of pulses a day, along with 300 gm of dairy, 100 gm of fruit, and 300 gm of vegetables, which should include at least 100 gm of dark green leafy vegetables.
Selecting the cheapest options from actual Indian diets — wheat, rice, bajra, milk, curd, onions, radish, spinach, bananas — the study calculated that a day’s meals would cost ?45 (or ?51 for an adult man).

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::ECONOMY::

WHO releases Global Tuberculosis Report,2020

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has recently released the Global Tuberculosis Report, 2020. The report Highlights the impact of COVID-19 on Tuberculosis (TB) related deaths. It says that COVID-19 might increase the TB deaths by 0.2 to 0.4 million worldwide.
As per the report, India registered a decline in Tuberculosis cases by 85% in April 2020 after the lockdown was imposed. However, the number of TB deaths could be between 2,00,000 and 4,00,000.
Philippines, Indonesia and South Africa accounted to 44% of global TB cases in the world.
India, China, Indonesia, Pakistan, Philippines, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Russia accounts for two-thirds of global TB cases.
Largest burden of drug-resistant TB were reported in India, China and Russia.
TB cases reduced by 9% while TB deaths increased by 14% between 2015 and 2019.As per the report, around 14 million people were treated between 2018 and 2019 for TB.
Report says, treatment is moving ahead of the five-year target, set by WHO, of reaching 40 million between 2018 and 2022. But, the COVID-19 is the biggest hurdle to achieve these targets currently.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the medical staffs have been reallocated to look after the corona patients. Because of the, TB patients are not being given proper care.
Other reasons could be restriction in movement of people, procurement and transportation of TB medicines have been reduced and the loss of wages. This has made difficult for people to access the health centres and proper treatment.

NCTP claims government deliberating on making special ID card for transgenders

The government is deliberating on making a special identity card for transgender community members that will help in linking them with various social welfare schemes, a member of the recently-constituted National Council for Transgender Persons said.
The Centre had in August constituted the National Council for Transgender Persons (NCTP) to formulate policies, programmes, draft legislation and projects regarding members of the community for achieving equality and full participation by them.
The council was established in August by the Centre in exercise of the powers conferred by the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019.
According to the Act, the functions of the council include advising the Centre on the formulation of policies, programmes, legislation and projects with respect to transgender persons; monitoring and evaluating the impact of policies and programmes designed for achieving equality and full participation of transgender persons.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

Bangladesh invites India to join 50years of country’s independence

Bangladesh has invited Prime Minister NarendraModi to join the celebrations of the 50 years of the country’s independence on March 26 next year, said Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen.
Dr.Momen said, Bangladesh and India will celebrate Bangladesh's 50 years of independence together next year. He hoped that Prime Minister Modi will join in the celebrations in Dhaka.
A virtual meeting between the Prime Ministers of India and Bangladesh is also likely to take place later this year. The Bangladesh's Foreign Minister said, the existing relations between Bangladesh and India have set an example for the world by resolving bilateral issues through dialogue and discussions. He referred to land and maritime boundary issues as an example in this context.
Earlier, Prime Minister Modi was scheduled to visit Bangladesh to join in the birth centenary celebrations of Bangabandhu Sheikh MujiburRahman. But the visit was cancelled due to the Corona pandemic.

India-Srilanka begins annual naval exercise-SLINEX

The 8th annual joint exercise between Indian and Sri Lankan navies - SLINEX-20 - will begin today off Trincomalee coast. The 3-day exercise will continue till 21st of October. The Sri Lanka Navy will be represented by SLN Ships Sayura and Gajabahu led by Rear Admiral BandaraJayathilaka, the Flag Officer Commanding Naval Fleet, Sri Lanka Navy.
Indigenously built ASW corvettes Kamorta and Kiltan under the command of Rear Admiral Sanjay Vatsayan, Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet, will represent the Indian Navy. Defence Ministry said, Indian Navy Advanced Light Helicopter and Chetak helicopter embarked onboard IN ships, and Dornier Maritime Patrol Aircraft will also be participating.
SLINEX-20 aims to enhance inter-operability, improve mutual understanding and exchange best practices and procedures for multi-faceted maritime operations between both navies.
The Ministry said, SLINEX series of exercise exemplifies the deep engagement between India and Sri Lanka which has strengthened mutual cooperation in the maritime domain.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

India test fires BRAHMOS super-sonic cruise missile

BRAHMOS, the supersonic cruise missile was successfully test fired today from Indian Navy’s indigenously-built stealth destroyer INS Chennai, hitting a target in the Arabian Sea. The missile hit the target successfully with pin-point accuracy after performing high-level and extremely complex manoeuvres.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Navy for the successful launch. Secretary, Department of Defence Research and Development and DRDO Chairman Dr G Satheesh Reddy, congratulated the scientists and all personnel of DRDO, BrahMos, Indian Navy and industry for the successful feat.
DRDO Chairman Dr Reddy said, BRAHMOS missiles will add to the capabilities of Indian Armed Forces in many ways.
BRAHMOS as a prime strike weapon will ensure the warship’s invincibility by engaging naval surface targets at long ranges, thus making the destroyer another lethal platform of Indian Navy.
The highly versatile BRAHMOS has been jointly designed, developed and produced by India and Russia.

::SPORTS::

MohunBagan lifts I-league trophy

Prime Minister NarendraModicongratulated MohunBagan on lifting the I-League trophy. In a tweet, Mr Modi said, congratulations to the players, staff and fans of the illustrious MohunBagan for emerging as I-League Champions.
He said, this is indeed a joyful occasion. Earlier yesterday, the I-League 2019-20 trophy was handed over to the club at a city hotel in Kolkata.

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