September to January 2020 current affairs INDEX SR.NO TOPICS PAGE.NO 1 POLITY AND GOVERNANCE 2-32 2 ECONOMICS 32-69 3 INDIA AND WORLD 69-91 4 SCIENCE AND TECH. 92-106 5 ENVIRONMENT 106-120 6 DEFENCE 121-130 7 DAYS AND EVENTS 131-140 8 AWARD AND HONOURS CADEMY141-150 9 SPORTS 151-164 10 SUMMIT AND CONFERENCES 165-178 11 BOOKS AND AUTHORS 179-181 12 HIMACHAL PRADESH CURRENT AFFAIRS 181-198 13 GOVERNMENT SCHEMES 198-207 14 INDEX AND RANKING 208-217 15 NATIONAL APPOINTMENTS 217-221 16 INTERNATIONAL 221-223 APPOINTMENTS&RESIGNATION 17 MISCELLANEOUS 223-228 18 JOKTANATIONAL NEWS SPECIAL CAPSULE 229-249 JOKTA ACADEMY SCO 78-79 SECTOR 15D CHANDIGARH PH 9779464475 1 JOKTA ACADEMY 1. POLITY AND GOVERNANCE NGO under RTI Act: Why in news? As per the judgment of supreme court, Non-Government 0rganisations (NGOs) that are “substantially financed, directly or indirectly”, by government funds will fall within the ambit of “public authority” under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005. Public authority under RTI:Section 2(h) of the RTI Act states that “public authority” means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted: By or under the Constitution By any other law made by Parliament; By any other law made by state legislature; By notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any Body owned, controlled or substantially financed Non-Government organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government. What is substantial financing? The RTI Act does not define substantial financing. According to SC judgment, substantialmeans a large portion. It does not necessarily have to mean a major portion or more than 50 per cent. Substantial financing can be both direct or indirect. For example if a land is given to any institution or organization at cheap price by the state, it “would mean that it is substantially financed. Significance of the Judgment: NGOs will have to maintain records as provided under the Act, and every citizen will have the right to get information from them. It will bring transparency in the conduct of NGOs NationalJOKTA E-Assessment Scheme: CADEMY Why in news? Revenue Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey has launched the faceless assessment system in the Income Tax department JOKTA ACADEMY SCO 78-79 SECTOR 15D CHANDIGARH PH 9779464475 Page 2 September to January 2020 current affairs What is E-Assessment program? The e-Assessment Scheme introduces the concept of team-based assessment with dynamic jurisdiction which would bring about transparency, efficiency and standardisation of procedures by eliminating human interface between the taxpayer and the Income Tax department. Highlights of the scheme: The system generated uses digital technology for risk management. Artificial Intelligence, Automated examination tools and machine learning are predominantly used in framing the system. Online submissions will save time and effort involved in visiting tax offices for face-to-face proceedings. Faceless assessments will make the process objective and hassle-free The nodal National e-Assessment Centre (NeAC) will be located in Delhi and headed by the Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax. The eight Regional e-Assessment Centres will be located in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Pune, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad. The chief commissioner of the Income Tax department will head the Center in New Delhi Access to Internet is a basic right Why in news? The Kerala High Court on Thursday held that the right to have access to the Internetis part of the fundamental right to education as well as the right to privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution. Highlights of the judgment CADEMY The court set aside Shirin’s expulsion and hostel rules which denied Internet access to women students at night. The court held that “When the Human Rights Council of the United Nations has found that the right of access to Internet is a fundamental freedom and a tool to ensure right to education, a rule or instruction which impairs the said right of the students cannot be permitted to stand in the eye of Law. The court observed that the action of the college authorities infringed the fundamental freedom as well as privacy and would adversely affect the future and career of students who want to acquire knowledge and compete with their peers, such restriction could not be permitted to be enforced. HowJOKTA access to internet linked to various Rights and Development of the Human: Right to freedom of speech: Internet has become a powerful medium of expression. UN resolution says that the same rights people have offline must also be protected online. JOKTA ACADEMY SCO 78-79 SECTOR 15D CHANDIGARH PH 9779464475 3 JOKTA ACADEMY Right to development: The right to development is a right recognized by the UN General Assembly. Access to internet would further enhance the economic development opportunities. Right to education:Internet provided an avenue for the students to accumulate knowledge. Right to freedom of assembly: Internet has become a useful tool in the organization of protest movements and demonstrations. Internet and social media networks such as Twitter and Facebook had played a significant role to gather people online for political events such as the Arab Spring. Access to Internet and Sustainable development Goals:This has been acknowledged in the Sustainable Development Goals. SDG 9 target significant increase in access to information and communications technology and strive to provide universal and affordable access to the Internet in least developed countries by 2020. REGIONAL BENCH OF SUPREME COURT Why in News? Vice President of India and Chairman of Rajya Sabha Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has suggested several reforms including bifurcation of the Supreme Court and setting up of four Regional Benches of the Apex Court . Need for Regional Benches: Inordinate delay in justice delivery in the country. High pendency of cases, More than 65,000 casesCADEMY are pending in the Supreme Court. Currently, the Supreme Court sits at Delhi. So it becomes tough for people of southern state to access supreme court. Setting up regional bench will reduce work load of Supreme Court. It will make justice more accessible to people of all Regions. Constitutional obligation of state: Article 39-A directs the State to ensure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice on a basis of equal opportunity to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities. Thus, it is essential to ensure that the additional transaction cost of litigation for people of north-eastern states or southern states should be minimal. MARITIME COMMUNICATION SERVICE Why JOKTAin News? NELCO announced the launch of maritime communication services. Nelco is the first Indian company that will now provide quality broadband services to the maritime sector. Benefits of the MCS: JOKTA ACADEMY SCO 78-79 SECTOR 15D CHANDIGARH PH 9779464475 Page 4 September to January 2020 current affairs It will enhance the operational efficiency of Energy, Cargo and Cruise vessels. It will improve crew welfare as well as to enable customer services. Ministry of Communications has also notified the Flight and Maritime Connectivity (FMC) Rules, 2018 FMC Rules 2018will enable Inflight and Maritime Telecom Connectivity (IFMC). Highlighs of IFMC: It intends to open the airspace and territorial waters for telecommunication services for the general public. It also envisages the creation of satellite gateway within India for providing telecom services in aircraft and ships through Indian licensed service providers. Only the authorized IFMC service provider, can provide wireless voice or data or both types of services on ships within Indian territorial waters and on aircraft within or above India or Indian territorial waters. CHC Farm Machinery App It is a multilingual app through which farmers can select and order the required machinery at the rates feasible for them from the Custom hiring centers located in the radius of 50 Kms. Custom hiring centers: Custom Hiring Centers have been established under theCADEMY various schemes like Mission on Agricultural Mechanization Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana Crop Residue Management Schemes of DAC&FW under Union Ministry of Agriculture andFarmers welfare. To provide Agricultural Machinery on rental basis to the Farmers, especially small & marginal farmers who cannot afford to buy the high value machinery &equipments. Objective: Farmers, especially small and marginal farmers, will have easy access to high value and technical agricultural equipments. This will not only increase the income of the farmers, but it will also take mechanization to JOKTAmaximum farm holdings in a short time frame . Krishi Kisan App for Geo Tagging Why in news? JOKTA ACADEMY SCO 78-79 SECTOR 15D CHANDIGARH PH 9779464475 5 JOKTA ACADEMY Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar launched ‘Krishi Kisan’ mobile app to help farmers take benefit of field demonstration of new farm technologies, seed hubs as well as weather advisories. Benefits of the app: Any farmer with high quality of crops can utilise this platform to demonstrate best practices of cultivation to other farmers so that this will help other farmers also to adopt these methods. The App will also help in geo-tagging and geo-fencing of crop and give weather forecast message to farmers. It will provide