IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-01

IASTODAY CAPSULES are available free -date wise => CLICK HERE

Navy to set up women-friendly facilities on its fleet

News

• The Navy said it has decided to set up women-friendly facilities on its indigenously-built aircraft carrier and other bigger ships amid demands for induction of women.

Women- friendly

• The first indigenously-built aircraft carrier Vikrant would be women- friendly. Statement comes a day after Sub-Lieutenant Shivangi became the first naval woman pilot to join operational duties in the presence of top officials at its base. Fulfilling her long-cherished dream, she received her ‘qualification wings’ from the Vice-Admiral.
• A roadmap has been prepared by the Navy on deployment of women on warships, which has been a long-pending demand. The Vice-Admiral said legal and other issues needed to be sorted out before putting women on combat duty. The appeal in this regard was pending in the Supreme Court.

IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-02

India and Sweden sign three agreements

News

• India and Sweden signed three agreements that will help both countries to cooperate in the frontier of science and technology and address climate change and maritime issues.

Three agreements

• The agreements were signed after the Indian delegation held talks with the Swedish team led by King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia who are on a four day visit to India.
• Both sides signed the Protocol of Cooperation between the Department of Science and Technology of India and the Swedish Energy Agency and the MoU between the Ministry of Earth Sciences of India and the Ministry of Education and Research of Sweden on cooperation of polar science.
• A third agreement was sealed between the two countries on Recognition of Seafarer Certificates pursuant to Regulation I/10 of the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watch.
• The aim of this agreement is to promote of safety of maritime environment.

Terror incidents declined since abrogation of special status to J&K; infiltration attempts up: Govt

News

• Nineteen civilians, including non-Kashmiris, were killed in various terror-related incidents in the Kashmir Valley since August 5, when the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 was revoked, the Lok Sabha was informed.
• Minister of State for Home said there had been an increase in infiltration from across the border. From August 5 to October 31, the “net infiltration” was 59.

SPG Act amendment Bill gets Parliament nod

News

• Parliament passed an amendment to the Special Protection Group Act, 1988, that will allow SPG cover to the Prime Minister and former Prime Ministers for a period of five years after leaving office.
• The SPG (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was passed in the Rajya Sabha by voice vote.

New energy-rich food aims to counter urban malnutrition

News

• Children suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in urban areas are likely to get ready-to-eat energy dense nutritious food (EDNF) paste to fight deficiencies. While the plan has been approved in principle by the Maharashtra government, it is awaiting a nod from the Centre.

Energy dense nutritious food

• The ready to eat EDNF is a paste made of peanuts, oil, sugar, milk powder, nuts, and other nutrition-rich ingredients. Used as a medical intervention, the paste is given to SAM-affected children along with other meals in anganwadis.
• In Maharashtra, 22 districts have recorded high incidence of stunting and the worst affected are Nandurbar, Yavatmal and Parbhani.
• While malnutrition in tribal and rural areas is mostly triggered due to inadequate food or lack of it, in urban areas, lack of proper micronutrient-rich food, high intake of junk food have been the common reasons.
• Through the anganwadis, the government gives take-home ration to children between six months and three years of age, SAM-affected children between six months and six years, and pregnant and lactating mothers.
• Additionally, a morning snack and hot cooked meals for lunch are given to children between three and six years.

IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-03

NASA satellite finds crashed Indian Moon lander Vikram

News

• A NASA satellite orbiting the Moon has found India’s Chandrayaan-2 Vikram lander which crashed on the lunar surface in September, the U.S. space agency said.

Chandrayaan-2 Vikram lander 

• NASA released an image taken by its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) that showed the site of the spacecraft’s impact (September 6 in India and September 7 in the U.S.) and associated debris field, with parts scattered over almost two dozen locations spanning several kilometres.
• In a statement, NASA said it released a mosaic image of the site on September 26, inviting the public to search it for signs of the lander.
• Blasting off in July, emerging Asian giant India had hoped with its Chandrayaan-2 (”Moon Vehicle 2”) mission to become just the fourth country after the United States, Russia and regional rival China to make a successful Moon landing, and the first on the lunar south pole.
• The main spacecraft, which remains in orbit around the Moon, dropped the unmanned lander Vikram for a descent that would take five days, but the probe went silent just 2.1 kilometers above the surface.
• Days after the failed landing, the Indian Space Research Organization said it had located the lander, but hadn’t been able to establish communication.

Porting request will now be met in days: TRAI

News

• Mobile phone users will now be able to switch their telecom service provider while retaining their old number in a maximum of five days, December 16 onwards, as the new regulations on mobile number portability come into effect.

New regulations

• The amended rules, which provide for a penalty of up to ₹10,000 per wrongful rejection of porting request, also reduce the role that telecom operators play in the whole process.
• An individual porting request within a particular service area will be completed in three working days, the Telecom regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said.
• The request for port out from one circle to another will be completed in five working days, TRAI said.
• Under the new process, the mobile number portability service provider (MNPSP) has been tasked with generating and communicating the unique porting code (UPC) to a subscriber, instead of the telecom service provider. A UPC is an eight digit alpha numeric code that a subscriber wanting to switch their operator needs to generate by sending an SMS to ‘1900.’
• A record of the UPC will also be kept by the MNPSP, so that the porting request can be verified by the recipient operator as well. 
• As per estimates, the rejection of porting requests on the grounds UPC Mismatch and Expired UPC, accounted for an average of around 45% of the total rejection of porting requests for the period April, 2017 to May, 2018. These can be brought down following the new regime.

51 left India, defrauding over ₹17,900 crore

News

• The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has informed the Finance Ministry that 51 absconders and proclaimed offenders in 66 cases, who face allegations of fraud involving over ₹17,900 crore, have left for other countries.

Left for other countries

• The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has reported that six economic offenders had left the country illegally.
• The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had filed applications in court against 10 individuals under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act. The CBIC sent two extradition requests to the External Affairs Ministry in July.
• The Interpol had issued Red Notices on the ED’s requests for the extradition of eight individuals.
• As reported by the Department of Financial Services, the expected losses on account of the stressed loans stemming from such cases ,not provided earlier under the flexibility given to restructure loans, were reclassified as non-performing assets (NPAs).
• The public sector banks had initiated the clean-up by recognising the NPAs and providing for the likely losses, the government said.
• While the CBI and the ED have moved court in these cases, the CBI is processing 51 extradition requests pending at various stages.

Tax department issues 2.10 crore tax refunds till November; ₹1.46-lakh crore refunded

News

• The Income Tax Department processed as many as 10 crore tax refund cases, returning back over ₹1.46 lakh crore in first eight months of 2019-20, up 20% over the last year as a centralized processing centre has expedited the process.

Tax refund

• The Centralised Processing Centre (CPC) processed 4.70 crore tax returns between April 2019 and November 28 (almost eight months of current 2019-20 year) as opposed to 3.91 crore returns being processed in the same period a year back.
• It processed 2.10 crore tax refund cases for current Assessment Year 2019-20 as on November 28, 2019, compared to 1.75 crore refunds for the same period in FY 2018-19, an increase of 20%.
• The total amount of refunds issued in FY 2019-20 till November 28 was ₹1.46 lakh crore as compared to ₹1.19 lakh crore in the same period of the previous year (an increase of 22.7.
• Of the 2.10-crore refunds processed in 2019-20, 68% of refunds were issued within 30 days from the date of the e-verification of income tax return as compared to 57% for the same period in FY 2018-19.

133 J&K mosques, shrines under Central Waqf Board

News

• All 133 Muslim mosques and shrines, with an annual income of ₹26 crore and 9,500 kanals (one kanal is 0.12 acre) of land, in Jammu & Kashmir have come under the Central Waqf Board under the J&K Reorganisation Act.
• All Hindu and Sikh religious places will be governed by the local shrine boards under the Acts passed by the erstwhile State of J&K.

Centralized system

• • The J&K Muslim Waqf Board is a rich organisation and has pushed for the modernisation of education in the Kashmir Valley by supporting the setting up of the Islamic University of Science and Technology between 2002 and 2008.
  • The J&K Waqf Board takes care of 2,000 buildings and kiosks, and runs three nursing colleges.
  • Compared with the centralised revenue collection system of the J&K Waqf Board, the Central Waqf Board gives more powers to mutwalis, the traditional caretakers of the shrines, to collect endowments in the form of cash and jewellery and run the affairs on their own. The Central Waqf Act calls for 7% of revenue share from these shrines.
  • Unlike the rest of the country, the J&K Waqf Board centralised all revenues and planned for expansion of infrastructure.

CLICK HERE TO SEE DATE WISE CURRENT AFFAIRS