VISION IAS www.visionias.in CURRENT AFFAIRS NOVEMBER 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 AND CONSTITUTION ___________ 4 5.1. Environmental impact of Agricultural Subsidies ______________________________ 54 1.1. Simultaneous Elections ________________ 4 5.2. Hydrogen Based Energy _______________ 55 1.2. Right to Recall _______________________ 5 5.3. Glacial Lakes Outburst Floods (GLOFs) ___ 57 1.3. Regulating Over-the-top (OTT) platforms _ 6 5.4. La Niña ____________________________ 59 1.4. Legalising Betting in India ______________ 8 6. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ____________ 61 1.5. 3 Capitals for Andhra Pradesh __________ 9 6.1. Manned Space Mission _______________ 61 1.6. Forest Rights Act ____________________ 10 6.2. Venus Orbiter Mission: Shukrayaan _____ 62 2. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS __________ 13 6.3. Geospatial Technology ________________ 64 2.1. Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and India ______________ 13 6.4. Draft Data Centre Policy 2020 and India as a Global Data Centre Hub __________________ 66 2.2. 17th ASEAN-India Summit ____________ 14 6.5. C.V. Raman _________________________ 67 2.3. BRICS _____________________________ 17 7. SOCIAL ISSUES ______________________ 69 2.4. G20 _______________________________ 19 7.1. Paternity leave ______________________ 69 2.5. Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) 21 7.2. Manual Scavenging __________________ 70 2.6. Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) ________________________ 23 7.3. Malnutrition in India _________________ 72 2.7. India and Nuclear Disarmament ________ 25 7.4. SDG Investor Map for India ____________ 75 2.8. India’s Civil Nuclear Co-operations ______ 27 7.5. Integration of Traditional Medicine and Traditional Medicine _____________________ 77 2.9. India’s Development Efforts in Afghanistan ______________________________________ 29 8. CULTURE ___________________________ 80 2.10. India- Nepal Ties ___________________ 31 8.1. All India Trade Union Congress _________ 80 3. ECONOMY _________________________ 33 9. ETHICS _____________________________ 81 3.1. Changes in Bank Licensing framework ___ 33 9.1. Nudging ____________________________ 81 3.1.1. Banking License to large corporate houses 33 3.1.2. Banking License for NBFCs _____________ 34 10. SCHEMES IN NEWS __________________ 83 3.2. GST Tussle _________________________ 35 10.1. Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) Scheme __ 83 3.3. Inflation Targeting ___________________ 37 11. NEWS IN SHORTS ___________________ 84 3.4. Liquidity Trap _______________________ 40 11.1. Election Commission of India (ECI) Removed 3.5. MSP and Procurement _______________ 40 Congress Leader Kamal Nath from the Party’s list of Star Campaigners. __________________________ 84 3.6. Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme 42 11.2. Pakistan Grants Provisional Provincial Status to 3.7. Solar Manufacturing in India __________ 44 Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) ________________________ 84 11.3. Framework Arrangement on Cyber and Cyber- 3.8. Hybrid Renewable Energy _____________ 46 Enabled Critical Technologies Cooperation ______ 84 11.4. Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines Issued 85 3.9. Model Tenancy Act, 2019 _____________ 47 11.5. Brahmos Supersonic Cruise Missile ________ 85 4. SECURITY __________________________ 50 11.6. Quick Reaction Surface-to-Air Missile (QRSAM) System __________________________________ 85 4.1. India's Annual Resolution On Counter- 11.7. Scorpene Class Submarine Vagir __________ 85 Terrorism ______________________________ 50 11.8. Military Exercises ______________________ 85 11.9. TX2 Tiger Conservation Awards (TTCA) given 86 4.2. Bio-Terrorism _______________________ 51 5. ENVIRONMENT _____________________ 54 2 www.visionias.in ©Vision IAS 11.10. Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate 11.23. First Ever Vaccine Listed Under WHO Change (MoEFCC) Launched Vulture Action Plan Emergency Use Listing (EUL) _________________ 90 2020-25 _________________________________ 86 11.24. Kala-azar or Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) ___ 90 11.11. State of Food and Agriculture 2020 Report 11.25. Global Center for Traditional Medicine ___ 90 Released by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) 11.26. Interstate Migrant Policy Index (IMPEX) ________________________________________ 86 released by India Migration Now (IMN) _________ 90 11.12. World Wide Fund (WWF) Water Risk Filter 87 11.27. United Nations (UN) Launched the Sanitation 11.13. Luhri Stage-1 Hydro Power Project ______ 87 and Hygiene Fund (SHF) _____________________ 91 11.14. Four more Biodiversity Heritage Sites (BHS)for 11.28. Academic Freedom Index ______________ 91 Karnataka _______________________________ 87 11.29. Athena SWAN Charter _________________ 91 11.15. India Climate Change Knowledge Portal __ 88 11.30. National Portal for Transgender Persons __ 91 11.16. Country’s First Convergence Project _____ 88 11.31. Scotland Became the First Country to Make 11.17. Earth Observation Satellite (EOS-01) _____ 88 Sanitary Products Free ______________________ 92 11.18. Starlink ____________________________ 88 11.19. Discovery of Pulsars __________________ 89 12. APPENDIX _________________________ 93 11.20. Fast radio bursts (FRBs) Detected in the Milky 12.1. Mitigation and Management of COVID-19- Way for the First Time _____________________ 89 Practices from Indian States and Union Territories 11.21. One Health Global Leaders Group on ______________________________________ 93 Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) ______________ 89 11.22. Great Barrington Declaration __________ 89 3 www.visionias.in ©Vision IAS 1. POLITY AND CONSTITUTION 1.1. SIMULTANEOUS ELECTIONS Why in News? Constitutional provisions related to simultaneous Elections Recently, Prime Minister raised the pitch for Simultaneous • Article 83 stipulates that Lok Sabha shall have a Elections to the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies. normal term of 5 years from the date appointed About Simultaneous Elections (SE) for its first meeting and no longer. • Article 85 states that President of India has the • It means structuring the Indian election cycle in a power to dissolve the Lok Sabha on the advice of manner that elections to Lok Sabha and State the Union Cabinet. Assemblies are synchronized together under which • Article 172 lays down the term for the Legislative voters in a particular constituency vote for both on the Assemblies as five years. same day. • Article 174 is states that Governor has the power • SE were the norm until 1967. But following dissolution to dissolve the state assembly on the advice of the state Cabinet. of some Legislative Assemblies in 1968 and 1969 and that of Lok Sabha in 1970, elections to State Assemblies and Parliament have been held separately. • Later, SE idea was proposed by Election Commission in 1983. It was also referred by Law Commission and NITI Aayog. • SE does not mean that voting across the country for Lok Sabha and State Assemblies happen on a single day. It can be conducted in a phase-wise manner and voters in a particular constituency vote for both State Assembly and Lok Sabha the same day. Arguments in favor of Simultaneous Elections • Policy paralysis: Frequent elections lead to imposition of Model Code of Conduct (MCC) over prolonged periods of time which often leads to policy paralysis and governance deficit in the form of suspended development programs, welfare schemes, capital projects etc. • Huge expenditures: By various stakeholders like political parties, individual candidates, etc. The urge to spend more (than the set limit) to win elections is blamed as one of the key drivers for corruption and black-money in the country. • Engagement of security forces: Deployment of security forces is normally throughout the elections and frequent elections takes away a portion of such armed police force which could otherwise be better deployed for other internal security purposes. • Disrupting public life: Frequent elections lead to disruption of normal public life and impact the functioning of essential services. If SE are held, this period of disruption would be limited to a certain pre-determined period of time. • Impact on social fabric: Frequent elections perpetuate caste, religion and communal issues across the country as elections are polarizing events which have accentuated casteism, communalism and corruption. • Focus on populist measures: Frequent elections will impact the focus of governance and policy making as it forces the political class to typically think in terms of immediate electoral gains rather than focus on long-term programmes and policies. • Impact on voter turnout: According to law commission report simultaneous polls will boost voter turnout. Arguments against Simultaneous Elections • Operational feasibility such as how to synchronize cycle for the first time, what will be the procedure in case ruling party/coalition loses majority before 5 years, feasibility for the Election Commission to conduct elections at such a massive scale etc. • Constitutional issues: Holding SE will require certain requirements such as Curtailment and extension of terms of the House of the People/ State Legislative Assemblies, Amendment to the relevant provisions of the Constitution, Amendment to the Representation of People