Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 05 FEBRUARY 2020
::NATIONAL::
PM assures one nation, one tax, one ration card initiative soon
- Prime Minister NarendraModi has said that One country, One tax and One
ration card will be a reality soon. Addressing an election rally in Delhi
today, Mr.Modi said, the Government is committed towards introducing one
ration card system in the national capital as well which will benefit lakhs
of migrants who have relocated to Delhi in search of better jobs and
opportunities.
- Speaking in the rally, Prime Minister Modi said that a government in
Delhi should be such that it can support the Central Government's strong
decisions in matters of national security. He said that criticism of
landmark and crucial decisions on matters of national security only
strengthens the divisive forces and undermines national image.
- He also said that since the enactment of CAA, people in the country have
been witnessing the falsehood which is being propagated by a few people. He
also accused the current Delhi government of indulging in the use of abusive
language against the police personnel.
- Mr.Modi said that where on one hand the nation is witnessing such
behaviour of disrespect; on the other the BJP Government has dedicated
National Police Memorial and National War Memorial in Delhi marking respect
for the heroes safeguarding the country.
Study finds lack of anganwadis in cities
- For every 100 anganwadi beneficiaries in the country, only seven are in
urban areas, according to the government’s response to a Right to
Information (RTI) query from The Hindu.
- This is primarily because of a severe lack of anganwadis in cities,
leading to poor coverage of the government’s flagship programme in early
childhood development.
- Anganwadis or day-care centres are set up under the Integrated Child
Development Services (ICDS) by the Women and Child Development Ministry to
provide a package of six services.
- The services include supplementary nutrition; pre-school non-formal
education; immunisation, nutrition and health education; as well as referral
services. The aim of the scheme is to reduce infant mortality and
child malnutrition. Beneficiaries include children in the age group of six
months to six years, and pregnant women and lactating mothers.
- This is primarily because of an acute paucity of anganwadi centres in
urban areas. There are as many as 13.79 lakh anganwadis operational across
the country, out of which 9.31 lakh centres are linked to the government’s
web-enabled data entry system called Rapid Reporting System.
::ECONOMY::
Insurance cover on bank deposits raised to 5 lakh rupees
- Insurance cover on bank deposits has been increased to five lakh rupees
from one lakh rupees. The decision came into effect from yesterday.
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in a statement that the cover is
provided by the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC),
a wholly-owned subsidiary of the RBI. This, the RBI said, has been done with
a view to providing a greater measure of protection to depositors.
- Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman on Saturday had made the announcement
regarding increasing insurance cover to five lakh rupees in her Budget
Speech.
- The move will help boost confidence of people in the banking system.As
the insurance cover stands increased, the banks will pay a premium of 12
paise against 10 paise per 100 rupees deposited.
- The deposit insurance scheme covers all banks operating in India,
including private sector, cooperative and even branches of foreign banks.
There are some exemptions such as deposits of foreign governments, deposits
of Central and State Governments, and inter-bank deposits. Deposit insurance
was static at one lakh rupees since 1993.
IRDAI sets up panel to develop concept paper on stand alone micro insurance
companies
- Insurance regulator IRDAI has constituted a committee to develop a
concept paper on standalone micro-insurance companies.Micro-insurance
products offer coverage to low-income groups who have little savings and is
tailored specifically for lower valued assets.
- In doing so, the 10-member panel is required to assess the desirability
and feasibility of formation of standalone micro-insurance companies; review
the legal and regulatory framework to enable such an entity; and recommend
the maximum sum insured per person that may be accepted by the proposed
firm.
- Considering the aspect of ease of doing business, the panel has also
been tasked to suggest the applicability and/or relaxation of existing
provisions for micro-insurance companies.
- Stating this, an order constituting the committee of the Insurance
Regulatory and Development Authority of India said capital and solvency;
underwriting, product and claims; finance and accounting; investments;
operations; and corporate governance are the indicative regulatory aspects
to be studied.
- On reasons behind its decision to form the panel, the regulator said
India is seen as a pioneer in the micro-insurance sector globally and has
set an example with its micro-insurance regulations.
::INTERNATIONAL::
EU rejects trump’s proposal for securing peace in middle east
- The European Union yesterday rejected United States President Donald
Trump's proposal for securing peace in the Middle East. EU also expressed
concern about Israel's plans to annex more Palestinian land.
- Mr Trump's plan, which was unveiled last week, would foresee the
eventual creation of a Palestinian state, but it falls far short of minimal
Palestinian demands and would leave sizable chunks of the occupied West Bank
in Israeli hands.
- Gulf Arab states also rejected the White House plan calling it as
biased.
While Israeli officials were present for its unveiling, no Palestinian
representatives attended. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that he
wants to move forward with plans to annex West Bank territory.
India assumes co-chair or Dubai expo-2020 committee
- Navdeep Singh Suri, who was until very recently India’s Ambassador to
the UAE, has assumed the responsibility of India’s Co-Chair of the Expo-2020
Dubai Committee. Mr Suri was also a recipient of the UAE's Order of Zayed II
honour.
- FICCI is the industry partner of the Indian Government for its
participation in Expo-2020 Dubai.
- India is one of the few countries which have been awarded to create a
permanent structure at the Expo-2020 and proposes to showcase the country’s
strengths in innovation and start-ups in the hi-tech sector.
- After retiring from the Indian Foreign Service in September last year,
Mr Suri became a Distinguished Fellow and Director of the Centre for New
Economic Diplomacy at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi.
::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::
Greenbone report confirms medical data leak
- Medical details of over 120 million Indian patients have been leaked and
made freely available on the Internet, according to a recent report
published by Greenbone Sustainable Resilience, a German cybersecurity firm.
- What is even more worrying is that the number of data troves containing
this sensitive data went up by a significant number in the Indian context a
month after Greenbone’s initial report was published. The updated report
also places Maharashtra at the top of the States affected by the leak.
- The report says that in 60 days after the first report was put out, the
number of data troves bearing the patients’ information went up from
6,27,000 to 1.01 million, and that the images of patients’ details rose from
105 million to 121 million.
- Medico-legal expert LalitKapoor said any communication between a doctor
and a patient was privileged one. “A doctor or a hospital is thus ethically,
legally and morally bound to maintain confidentiality,” he said.
- Greenbone’s original report says the leak was facilitated by the fact
that the Picture Archiving and Communications Systems (PACS) servers, where
these details are stored, are not secure and linked to the public Internet
without any protection, making them easily accessible to malicious elements.
