Current Affairs January 2020
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VISION IAS www.visionias.in CURRENT AFFAIRS JANUARY 2020 Copyright © by Vision IAS All rights are reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of Vision IAS. 1 www.visionias.in ©Vision IAS Table of Contents 1. POLITY & GOVERNANCE _______________ 4 4.2. Pact to end Bru Refugee Crisis __________ 42 1.1. Article 131 of Indian Constitution ________ 4 4.3. Kuki- Naga Militants Sign Pact __________ 43 1.2. Office of the Speaker and the Issue of 4.4. Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre _ 44 Defection _______________________________ 5 5. ENVIRONMENT ______________________ 46 1.3. SC’s Verdicts on Curbing Restrictions _____ 7 5.1. Green Economy _____________________ 46 1.4. Aadhar report ________________________ 9 5.2. Coral Restoration ____________________ 48 1.5. Enemy Properties ____________________ 10 5.3. Guidelines for Implementing Wetlands 1.6. Regulating Minority Educational Institutions (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017 _ 50 ______________________________________ 11 5.4. 10 New Ramsar Sites in India __________ 52 1.7. EWS Quota in States _________________ 13 5.5. Urban Lakes ________________________ 54 1.8. All India Judicial Services ______________ 14 5.6. Compensatory Afforestation: Green Credit 1.9. Fast Track Special Courts ______________ 15 Scheme _______________________________ 55 2. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS __________ 17 5.7. African Cheetah _____________________ 56 2.1. New and Emerging Strategic Technologies 5.8. State Energy Efficiency Preparedness Index Division _______________________________ 17 2019 __________________________________ 57 2.2. South China Sea _____________________ 18 5.9. Enforcement & Monitoring Guidelines for Sand Mining ____________________________ 58 2.3. Israel-Palestine ______________________ 20 5.10. Hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC)-141 b _ 60 2.4. Rohingya Issue in ICJ _________________ 21 5.11. New Monsoon Dates ________________ 60 2.5. Iran-USA Standoff ___________________ 23 5.12. Australian Bush Fire _________________ 61 3. ECONOMY _________________________ 25 6. SOCIAL ISSUES ______________________ 63 3.1. Report of the 15th Finance Commission for FY 2020-21 _____________________________ 25 6.1. Income Inequality ___________________ 63 3.2. National Strategy for Financial inclusion _ 27 6.2. Global Social Mobility Index ___________ 64 3.3. Stressed Urban Co-operative Banks to Face 6.3. Medical Termination of Pregnancy PCA-like Curbs __________________________ 29 (Amendment) Bill, 2020 __________________ 65 3.4. E-Commerce in India _________________ 29 6.4. Anganwadi Workers __________________ 66 3.5. The Mineral Laws (Amendment) Ordinance 6.5. Adoption in India ____________________ 67 2020 __________________________________ 31 6.6. Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 3.6. Road Infrastructure Funding ___________ 32 2019 __________________________________ 69 3.7. Draft Guidelines for Private Trains ______ 33 7. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ____________ 71 3.8. Draft Scheme for Supply of Round-The-Clock 7.1. Regulating Artificial Intelligence ________ 71 (RTC) Power ____________________________ 35 7.2. Blockchain Technology ________________ 73 3.9. North-East Gas Grid Project ____________ 36 7.3. 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) ____ 75 3.10. National Data and Analytical Platform 7.4. Rare Diseases _______________________ 76 Vision Document ________________________ 37 7.5. Drone Regulation ____________________ 78 3.11. World Employment and Social Outlook _ 39 8. CULTURE ___________________________ 81 4. SECURITY __________________________ 41 8.1. Republic Day Parade 2020 _____________ 81 4.1. Bodo Peace Accord ___________________ 41 8.2. Ashfaqullah Khan ____________________ 81 2 www.visionias.in ©Vision IAS 8.3. Cultural Festivals in News _____________ 82 10.20. Arogya Sanjeevani Policy ______________ 90 10.21. Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR) 90 9. ETHICS ____________________________ 83 10.22. Youth Co: Lab________________________ 90 9.1. Death Penalty _______________________ 83 10.23. Operation Turtshield __________________ 91 10.24. One Trillion Trees Initiative _____________ 91 10. NEWS IN SHORT ___________________ 85 10.25. Tropical Forest Alliance 2020 ___________ 91 10.1. Padma Awards ________________________ 85 10.26. Hargila _____________________________ 92 10.2. Police Commissionerate System __________ 85 10.27. Palau Is First Country to Ban 'Reef Toxic' Sun 10.3. Postal Ballot __________________________ 85 Cream ___________________________________ 92 10.4. INI Status to the Institute of Teaching and 10.28. Archaea ____________________________ 92 Research in Ayurveda _______________________ 86 10.29. Bhuvan Panchayat V 3.0 _______________ 92 10.5. Corruption Perception Index 2019 ________ 86 10.30. DRDO Young Scientists Laboratories _____ 93 10.6. Women, Business & The Law Report 2020 _ 86 10.31. Swarna Jayanti Fellowships _____________ 93 10.7. Raisina Dialogue 2020 __________________ 87 10.32. Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC) _______ 93 10.8. Global Risk Report 2020 ________________ 87 10.33. Indian Data Relay Satellite System (IDRSS) 93 10.9. Blue Corner Notice ____________________ 87 10.34. Government Owned Contractor Operated 10.10. Libya Summit ________________________ 88 (GOCO) Model ____________________________ 93 10.11. Global Talent Competitiveness Index _____ 88 10.35. Sukhoi Jets __________________________ 94 10.12. World Economic Situation and Prospects 10.36. Saksham 2020 _______________________ 94 (WESP) Report ____________________________ 88 10.37. Swachh Survekshan League 2020 (SS League 10.13. No Imports in ‘Others’ Category Without HSN 2020) ____________________________________ 94 Code ____________________________________ 88 10.38. Nari Shakti Puraskar __________________ 95 10.14. WEF’s Reskilling Revolution ____________ 89 10.39. Buddhist Monastries in News ___________ 95 10.15. Global consortium for Governance of Digital 10.40. Iran’s Cultural Heritage ________________ 95 Currency _________________________________ 89 10.41. Classical Language ____________________ 96 10.16. NSE knowledge Hub __________________ 89 11. GOVERNMENT SCHEMES IN NEWS _____ 97 10.17. Track and Trace Platform for businesses __ 89 10.18. National Startup Advisory Council _______ 89 11.1. Scheme for Integrated Textile Park _______ 97 10.19. Purvodaya Scheme ___________________ 90 11.2. Aspirational Districts Program ___________ 97 3 www.visionias.in ©Vision IAS 1. POLITY & GOVERNANCE 1.1. ARTICLE 131 OF INDIAN CONSTITUTION Why in news? Recently Kerala and Chhattisgarh have filed a suit in the Supreme court challenging the constitutional validity of various central laws such as Citizenship Amendment Act (Kerala) and the National Investigation Agency Act (Chhattisgarh), under Article 131 of the Indian Constitution. Why the states have challenged the Centre under article 131? • Kerala: o Kerala has filed a suit to challenge the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, stating that it is violative of Articles 14 (equality before the law), 21 (protection of life and personal liberty) and 25 (freedom of religion) as well as against the secular fabric of the nation. o It also challenges the Passport (Entry to India) Amendment Rules 2015, and Foreigners (Amendment) Order 2015, which had regularised the stay of non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, who had entered India before December 31, 2014, on the condition that they had fled religious persecution from their home countries. • Chhattisgarh o It has sought a declaration that the NIA Act, 2008, is unconstitutional on the ground that it is “beyond the legislative competence of Parliament”. o As ‘Police’ is a subject reserved for the States, having a central police agency, which has overriding powers over the State police, with no provision for consent from the State government for its operations, is against the division of legislative powers between the Centre and the States. o And thus NIA, is against the federal spirit of the Constitution. About Article 131 • Article 131 of the Constitution talks about the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, where the apex court deals with any dispute between the Centre and a state; the Centre and a state on the one side and another state on the other side; and two or more states. • This means no other court can entertain such a dispute. • A dispute to qualify under Article 131, it has to necessarily be between states and the Centre, and must involve a question of law or fact on which the existence of a legal right of the state or the Centre depends. o In the State of Karnataka v Union of India, Case, 1978 Justice P N Bhagwati had said that for the Other Jurisdictions of the Supreme Court Supreme Court to accept a suit under Article 131, • Advisory: Under its advisory jurisdiction, the President has the power to seek an opinion the state need not show that its legal right is from the apex court under Article 143 of the violated, but only that the dispute involves a legal Constitution. question. • Appellate: Under its appellate jurisdiction, the o It cannot be used to settle political differences Supreme Court hears appeals from lower between state and central governments headed by courts. different parties. • Extraordinary original jurisdiction: The • However, Centre has other powers to ensure that its Supreme Court has exclusive power to laws are implemented. adjudicate upon disputes involving