IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-01

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

Manual scavenging fatalities highest in Tamil Nadu, says survey

News

• As many as 206 manual scavengers died while cleaning sewers and septic tanks between 1993 and July 2019 in Tamil Nadu, according to a government survey conducted in 170 districts in 18 States.

Highest deaths

• The deaths in Tamil Nadu were the highest among all States.
• Two percent of victims’ families were not compensated, whereas all victims’ families in Punjab, Gujarat and Telangana received compensation.
• Despite a 2013 law prohibiting employment of manual scavengers, the survey identified 54,130 people engaged in this job across India as of July 2019.

‘Climate strike’ named Collins’ word of the year 2019

News

• ‘Climate strike’, a form of protest popularised by the Sweedish teenage activist Greta Thunburg, has been named Collins’ Word of the Year 2019. It is formally defined as ‘a form of protest in which people absent themselves from education or work in order to join demonstrations demanding action to counter climate change’.

Climate strike- Collins

• Collins Dictionary’s lexicographers monitor the 9.5 billion-word Collins Corpus and create the annual list of new and notable words that reflect an ever-evolving culture and the preoccupations of those who use it.
• This years’ global climate strike which took place saw a reported turnout of over 7.6 million across the world, the largest climate mobilisation in history. The U.K.-based lexicographers observed a one-hundredfold increase in its usage this year alone.
• On November 5, more than 11,000 scientists worldwide declared global climate emergency in a paper published in BioScience journal.
• The dictionary has also issued the ‘Brexicon’ – ‘a list of words related to Brexit and how the country, its people and politicians have reacted to it.’
• Brexit was named Collins’ Word of the Year in 2016, and has been a matter of international conversation ever since. The long drawn event has brought to the fore an array of unique vocabulary that captures its essence.

The list includes words like:

• Brexiteer (noun) – a supporter or architect of the withdrawal of Britain from the European Union,
• Brexiety (noun) – a state of heightened anxiety triggered by concerns about the imminent withdrawal of Britain from the European Union, and
• Project Fear (noun) – a name given to any political campaign that seeks to arouse public alarm about proposed changes to the status quo.

IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-02

India, Switzerland for greater cooperation on information exchange in tax matters

News

• India and Switzerland called on tax authorities to further enhance their collaboration in curbing the black money menace.

Black money

• The first transmission of financial account information on automatic basis between the two countries took place in September 2019 for enhanced cooperation in the fight against tax evasion.
• Both countries expressed their commitment to global tax transparency for tackling offshore tax evasion.
• This automatic exchange of financial account information will usher a new era of financial transparency as Indian tax administration will now know the details of all bank accounts held by Indians in Switzerland.
• The Revenue Secretary and Swiss State Secretary encouraged the competent authorities of both the countries to further collaborate and share experiences with the aim of continuously enhancing the quality of the exchanged data.
• They Secretary exchanged views on addressing the challenges arising out of digitalisation of the economy and agreed that coordinated international actions, as in the case of tax base erosion and profit shifting project, are central to achieving a consensus-based long-term solution that leads to desired tax certainty and sustainable development.
• They also agreed on continuous dialogue at the level of competent authorities of the two countries to further enhance the cooperation under the India-Switzerland tax treaties and expressed their commitment to carry forward the dialogue in the spirit of mutual friendship and cooperation.

Maiden India-US disaster relief exercise to begin in Vizag

News

• In tune with the growing partnership between India and the US, the maiden India US joint tri-services Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) Exercise named ‘Tiger Triumph’ is scheduled on the Eastern seaboard from November 13 to 21.

Aim: The exercise is aimed at developing interoperability for conducting HADR operations.

Tiger Triumph’

• Indian Naval ships Jalashwa, Airavat and Sandhayak, Indian Army troops from 19 Madras and 7 Guards, and Indian Air Force MI-17 helicopters and Rapid Action Medical Team (RAMT) would be participating in the exercise.
• The US would be represented by US Navy Ship Germantown with troops from US Third Marine Division.
• The harbour phase is scheduled at Visakhapatnam. The opening ceremony along with a joint flag parade and media interaction will be held on board INS Jalashwa.
• Personnel from both navies would also participate in training, visits, subject matter exchange, sports and social interaction.
• On completion of the harbour phase, the ships, with troops embarked, would sail for the sea phase and undertake maritime, amphibious and HADR operations. On reaching the HADR area at Kakinada, the landing of relief forces would be undertaken to the exercise scenario.
• At the HADR exercise area, a Joint Command and Control Centre, would be established by the Indian Army and US Marines.
• The IAF RAMT and the US Navy Medical Team would establish a medical facility camp for providing medical aid to victims, who would have been previously evacuated by road and air to the camp.

Donald Trump slams India and China, says Paris pact is unfair to the U.S.

News

• S. President Donald Trump said the Paris Agreement would require the U.S. to ‘pay countries’ such as India [for technology and support to fight climate change], justifying his withdrawal from the climate treaty.

Paris Agreement

• Trump said the Agreement was “economically unfair”, killing American jobs and shielding “foreign polluters”.
• According to the 2016 Paris Agreement, developed countries are to support developing countries’ efforts to fight climate change via financing mechanisms, technology and capacity building.

Air pollution: Supreme Court-mandated anti-pollution authority orders closure of Delhi-NCR schools till November 15

News

• The Supreme Court mandated anti-pollution authority EPCA ordered schools in Delhi-NCR to be closed for two days as pollution in the city hovered close to ‘emergency’ levels.

Pollution

• It also advised people to avoid outdoor exposure and to work from home wherever feasible.
• The Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority also extended the ban on hot-mix plants and stone-crushers in Delhi-NCR till November 15. 
• The apex court had banned construction and demolition activities in the region till further orders.
• All coal and other fuel-based industries, which have not shifted to natural gas or agro-residue, will remain shut in Faridabad, Gurugram, Ghaziabad, Noida, Bahadurgarh, Bhiwadi, Greater Noida, Sonepat and Panipat.
• In Delhi, industries which have not yet shifted to piped natural gas, will not operate during the period. 

Gujarat announces ₹700 crore relief package for rain-hit farmers

News

• The Gujarat government announced a relief package of ₹700 crore for the farmers in the state, whose crops have been damaged due to excess rains this year.

Relief package

• The move would benefit over four lakh farmers in the State.
• Farmers in Gujarat witnessed damage to their crops due to excess rains that lashed the state even after the monsoon season officially ended.
• The relief package will be over and above the crop insurance that the companies will provide to the farmers who under the insurance cover. The relief will be given as per the rules of the Central government’s Calamity Relief Fund.
• A survey is being carried out in different parts of the state to assess the crop damage and it will soon be completed.

IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-03

NASA’s NICER telescope detects brightest X-ray burst

News

• NASA’s Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) telescope on International Space Station (ISS) has detected the brightest X-ray burst so far that was caused by a massive thermonuclear flash on the surface of a pulsar.
• The crushed remains of a star that exploded long ago as a supernova is called pulsar.

Brightest X-ray burst

• NASA said that the sudden spike of X-rays was detected at about 10:04 pm EDT on August 20. The burst came from an object called J1808, which is located about 11,000 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. No single burst has revealed so many phenomena together, according to NASA.
• The explosion, which astronomers classify as a Type I X-ray burst, released as much energy in 20 seconds as the Sun does in nearly 10 days. The detail NICER captured on this record-setting eruption will help astronomers fine-tune their understanding of the physical processes driving the thermonuclear flare-ups of it and other bursting pulsars.
• The fireball briefly brightened up by roughly  20 per cent after subsiding, something the scientists have not been able to understand.
• The X-Ray brightness of J1808 leveled off for almost a second as the burst started. However, it started to increase again at a slower pace. According to NASA, the “stall” was the moment when the energy of the blast built up enough to blow the pulsar’s hydrogen layer into space.

Farm fires have 25% share as pollution reaches severe level

News

• The air quality in Delhi-NCR plummeted to ‘severe’ category yet again as haze returned to the city.
• As per CPCB data, Delhi’s AQI stood at 425, with PM 2.5 being the prominent pollutant. Ghaziabad recorded the worst AQI at 453, followed by Noida at 440 and Greater Noida at 436.

External pollutants

• • Factors such as low surface level wind speed, higher share of external pollutants and low temperatures contributed to conditions witnessed.
  • As per SAFAR, stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana had 25% share in PM2.5 levels in Delhi.
  • Punjab has recorded the highest number of such cases at 48,683 so far.
  • Pollution control bodies say the situation is being closely monitored and further action would be taken if air quality dips to ‘Severe+’ or ‘Emergency’ category.
  • Meanwhile, authorities in Punjab said stubble burning cases have reduced in the past three-four days as most of the crop residue has already been burned.

After Nazi-link backlash, NASA renames faraway ice world Ultima Thule to ‘Arrokoth’

News

• Ultima Thule, the farthest cosmic body ever visited by a spacecraft, has been renamed Arrokoth, or “sky” in the Native American Powhatan language, following a backlash over the previous name’s Nazi connotations.

Arrokoth

• The icy rock, which orbits in the dark and frigid Kuiper Belt about a billion miles beyond Pluto, was surveyed by the NASA spaceship New Horizons, with images showing it consisted of two spheres stuck together in the shape of a snowman.
• Its technical designation is 2014 MU69, but the New Horizon team nicknamed it Ultima Thule (pronounced Tool-ey) after a mythical northern land in classical and medieval European literature described as beyond the borders of the known world.
• That name sparked an angry reaction as it was co-opted by far-right German occultists in the early 20th century as the fabled ancestral home of “Aryan” people the term they used to describe proto-Indo-Europeans.
• Members of Thule Society founded a political party that evolved into Adolf Hitler’s Nazi party, and the term remains popular in alt-right circles.
• NASA said that they had received consent from Powhatan Tribal elders, and the name was chosen to associate the culture of the native people who lived in the region from where the object was first discovered.
• Arrokoth is an example of a “cold classical object” which has remained undisturbed since the solar system formed some 4.5 billion years ago.
• The New Horizons spacecraft is now at the outer edges of the Kuiper Belt that extends from the orbit of Neptune, and will join Voyager 1 and 2 beyond the Sun’s sphere of influence and into interstellar space.

Kudankulam nuclear plant is safe, India tells Russia

News

• After reports of a cyber-attack on the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu, Indian authorities have apprised Russia that necessary steps have been taken to prevent similar incidents in future on the Indo-Russian joint venture.
• The Kudankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu is a joint venture between India and Russia.

India’s electricity demand falls at the fastest pace in at least 12 years

News

• India’s power demand fell at the fastest pace in at least 12 years in October, signalling a continued decline in the industrial output, according to government data.
• Electricity has about 8% weighting in the country’s index for industrial production.

Power demand

• India needs electricity to fuel its expanding economy but a third decline in power consumption in as many months points to tapering industrial activity in a nation that aims to become a $5 trillion economy by 2024.
• India’s industrial output fell at the fastest pace in over six years in September, adding to a series of weak indicators that suggests that the country’s economic slowdown is deep-rooted and interest rate cuts alone may not be enough to revive growth.
• Annual industrial output contracted 4.3% in September, government data showed. It was the worst performance since a 4.4% contraction in February 2013.
• Subdued inflation and an economic slowdown have prompted the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to cut interest rates by a total of 135 basis points this year.
• India’s fuel demand fell to its lowest in more than two years in September, with consumption of diesel to its lowest levels since January 2017. Diesel and gasoline together make up over 7.4% of the IIP weightage.
• In 2019/20 India’s fuel demand also seen as an indicator of economic and industrial activity is expected to post the slowest growth in about six years.

CLICK HERE TO SEE DATE WISE CURRENT AFFAIRS