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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 02 February 2021

::NATIONAL::

The President launched the programme on the eve of the Polio National Immunization Day by administering polio drops to children less than five years old at Rashtrapati Bhawan.
The day is also popularly known as Polio Ravivar.

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Union Health Minister said, Polio-free certification of the entire South-East Asia Region of WHO including India on the 27th of March 2014 was a huge accomplishment in the history of India and Global Public Health. However, the Union Health Minister stressed on the need to remain vigilant and maintain the population immunity against polio with sensitive surveillance till global polio eradication happens.
He said, poliovirus is still circulating in other parts of the world including our neighbouring countries which may re-infect us.
The Universal Immunization Programme is focusing on protecting children from more diseases than ever before and has introduced several new vaccines in the recent past.
To provide additional protection to the children, the Government of India has also introduced injectable Inactivated Polio Vaccine into its routine immunization program.

Prime Minister addressed the 125th Birth Anniversary celebration of ‘Prabuddha Bharata.’
It is a monthly journal of the Ramakrishna Order.It was started by SwamiVivekananda in 1896.
It carries articles on social sciences and humanities comprising historical, psychological, cultural and social sciences themes.
The journal is regarded as a significant medium for spreading the message of India’s ancient spiritual wisdom.
Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Sri Aurobindo, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Sister Nivedita and SarvepalliRadhakrishnan have contributed their writings towards the journal.

UK has announced that it will apply for the membership to deepen trade links with the Asia-Pacific region after leaving the European Union.
Comprehensive andProgressive Agreement forTrans-Pacific Partnership(CPTPP)is a free trade agreement (FTA) between 11 countries- Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile,Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, New Zealand, Singapore and Vietnam, signed in 2018.
The countries, accounting for more than 13% of the world economy, have agreed to bring down tariffs on cross-border trade by as much as 98% after ratification.

The UK is opening a special visa scheme that will allow lakhs of Hong Kong residents a chance to migrate and eventually apply for British citizenship.

What is the special visa scheme for Hong Kong residents?

The visas will be issued to those in Hong Kong who hold a British National (Overseas) passport and their immediate dependents, and will offer a fast track to UK citizenship.
Applicants who get the visa can live and work in the UK for 5 years, after which they apply for settlement. Twelve months after this, they can apply for citizenship.
The scheme potentially covers over two-thirds of the city’s population of around 70 lakh. According to the BBC, some 29-lakh people are eligible, who along with 23 lakh dependents would be able to move to the UK. The British government, however, estimates that some three lakh will apply in the first five years.
There is no minimum salary requirement for those wanting to move, and is it necessary to first secure a job in the UK before migrating.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman earmarked ₹50,000 crore over five years for the creation of a National Research Foundation (NRF).
It is an umbrella body that is expected to fund research across a range of disciplines, from science and technology to humanities.
Union Finance Minister said that, NRF will ensure that the overall research ecosystem in the country is strengthened with a focus on identified national priority thrust areas.

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The NRF would be an autonomous body and represented by all major research and education bodies.
The NRF will also seed and build research capacity at universities and colleges through a formal mechanism of mentoring.
It will also catalyse research at universities and colleges that have until now not been big players in research.
The NRF will also help build the capacity to do research through an institutionalised mentoring mechanism, involving expert researchers from premier institutions of the country, the NEP document notes.

Meghalaya State Assembly Speaker Metbah Lygdoh visited Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly Secretariat in Itanagar to get first-hand information about the National e-Vidhan project implemented in the Assembly.
Arunachal Assembly is the first in the northeast and third in the country to have successfully implemented the ambitious National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA) project.

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e-Vidhan is a Mission Mode Project (MMP) included under the Digital India Programmeand Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs (MoPA) is the ‘Nodal Ministry’ for its implementation in all the 31 States/UTs with Legislatures.
The funding for e-Vidhan is given by the MoPA and technical support by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MietY).
The funding of NeVA is through Central Sponsored Scheme. 60:40; and 90:10 for North East and hilly States and 100% for UTs.