Current Affairs for SSC CGL Exams - 17 FEBRUARY 2020
::NATIONAL::
EC to consider remote voting system with aid from scientists
- The model of an Aadhaar-linked electronic voting system, which will
enable electors to cast their votes from any part of the country
irrespective of where they are registered to vote or even abroad, is being
prepared for the Election Commission of India by the Indian Institute of
Technology-Madras (IIT-M), ECI officials said.
- If the project is given the go-ahead by the EC, election laws will have
to be changed. “The IIT-M is developing a system for two-way remote voting
in controlled environment using blockchain technology. It will have to be
integrated with our ERO Net so if a person votes remotely, the electoral
roll will reflect that,” he said.
- With the proposed linking of Aadhaar with voter IDs at an “advanced
stage”, the official said, the two-way system would be possible only when
the linking is complete.
- The ECI had used a one-way electronic system for service electors for
the first time in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.The postal ballots were
transmitted electronically to the service electors, which led to an
increased turnout or 60.14%.
Madhya Pradesh records highest number of neonatal deaths
- Madhya Pradesh has recorded the highest percentage of newborn deaths of
11.5% against the total admissions to government-run sick newborn care units
(SNCUs) in the past three years across the country, a rate ominously
spiralling since 2017, according to the National Health Mission (NHM). The
country’s average is 7%.
- Although admissions of neonates (under 28 days) in the State have
dropped from April 2017 to December 2019 — remaining lower than West Bengal,
Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh — the percentage of deaths at 12.2% surpassed
Bihar’s last year.
- Meanwhile, West Bengal, where 34,344 neonatal deaths occurred in the
period, the most in the country, the declining percentage of deaths from
9.2% in 2017 to 8.9% in 2019 coincided with a slump in admissions.
- Staff crunch, low community referrals, absence of a special neonatal
transport service to health centres, and the non-availability of enough
units to cater to increasing institutional deliveries had contributed to the
spike in the percentage of deaths, said Dr.SaloniSidana, Additional Mission
Director, NHM State unit.
- The issue of under-reporting is illustrated by the NHM’s Child Health
Review 2019-2020, which highlights 43 districts where government officials
didn’t report more than 50% of deaths of children under five, to falsely
jack up their score.
::ECONOMY::
Government set to roll out simplified tax regime from April
- Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman said that simplified tax compliance
regime will be rolled out by April 1st, this year. Addressing economists and
experts as part of Jan JanKa Budget held in Hyderabad the minister directed
senior officials to conduct district level interactions in person to clear
all GST related issues of traders and industry people.
- The Finance Minister also said, the state governments are also on board
with the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) and the state
governments also have the responsibility to create awareness about GST.
- The Finance Minister said that many aspects have been taken into
consideration before imposing cess and taxes in the Budget 2020-21.
- Minister made it clear that the 5 per cent cess on imports of Medical
equipment is applicable to only those equipment which are also produced in
India.
- She further said, the cess collected will be spent on creating medical
infrastructure like hospitals in tier-two and tier-three cities in the
country.
Experts suggest strengthening of banking sector to rebuild economy
- Chairman for Economic Studies in the Vivekananda International
Foundation, S Gurumurthy has advocated for a comprehensive inter-related
approach to Indian economic modeling and stressed on several important
points to improve the economy.
- Mr Gurumurthy was speaking at a discussion on Political Stability and
Transformation of Union Budget in New Delhi on Saturday. He said, banking
system should be strengthened in a way that it can undertake the burden of
rebuilding the economy.
- Suggesting the measures aiming at restyling the economy, he said,
development banking should be separated from commercial banking first. He
said, development finance institution should be established to reduce the
possibility of generation of Non Performing Assets, NPAs.
- Speaking on the occasion, RajyaSabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar held strong
political stability responsible for progressive economic growth, saying it
has positive impacts on overall developmental target across sectors.
- He said, political stability not only cleans up the financial system but
improves the credit culture through governance and bring reforms in public
sector banks. He also added that resolution of NPAs and consolidation of
public sector banks can be done under the umbrella of strong leadership at
the Centre.
::INTERNATIONAL::
India signs MoU with Russia for defence support and spares
- In a step forward towards addressing the issue of regular spares and
support for Russian military equipment with the armed forces, 14 MoUs were
signed between Indian and Russian companies for setting up joint ventures
covering a range of equipment from modern T-90 tanks to legacy Pechora air
defence systems.
- The MoUs were signed during the 5th India Russia military industry
conference held during the Defexpo 2020 in Lucknow. They come under the
Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) on joint manufacturing of spares in India
signed last September for mutual cooperation in manufacturing of spares,
components, aggregates and other material related to Russian or
Soviet-origin arms and defence equipment.
- Lack of timely spares and support has been a constant issue faced by the
military, a major part of which consists of Russian defence hardware.
- One important MoU was signed between the Bharat Dynamics Limited and the
AlmazAntey of Russia for exploring the feasibility of a joint venture in
India for the production of various sub systems of “air defence missile
systems like Tunguska, Kavadrat, the OSA-AKA, Pechora air defence system as
well as the Shilka self-propelled air defence gun system”.
- There are also agreements on emerging technologies — Artificial
Intelligence, Internet of Things, blockchain and robotics based on Russian
technologies under the proposed Indo-Russian Joint Venture ICT Center of
Excellence.
::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::
ISRO set to launch 10 earth imaging satellites this year
- On February 15, 2020, ISRO published its annual report 2019-20.
According to the report, the Indian Space Research Organization will launch
10 Earth Observation Satellites in 2020-21. It includes the first Geo
Imaging Satellite, GISAT-1.
- The report says that 18 communication satellites, 19 national Earth
Observation satellites and eight navigation satellites are in service.Out of
these, 3 of these communication satellites are dedicated for military
communication.
- For the year 2019-20, ISRO had planned for 17 missions. Out of these,
six are yet to be completed and are expected to be completed by March 31,
2020.
- According to the report, ISRO has planned 36 missions in the upcoming
year. It includes six Earth Observation satellites. The organization also
has plans to add 8 Earth Observation satellites in 2021-22.
- The Earth Observation satellites to be launched includes RISAT-2BR2. The
RISAT-2BR2 with its fleet of predecessors RISAT-2B and RISAT-2B1 will be
placed 120 degrees apart. RISAT are Radar Imaging Satellites that provide
all weather surveillance using SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radars).
::SPORTS::
Haryana government announces rupees 6crore to olympic medal winners
- Haryana government has decided to give 6 crore rupees to players of the
state that bag gold medals at the Olympic Games. State Chief Minister
ManoharLalKhattar said, 3 crore rupees will be given to those winning gold
medals at Asian Games and 1.5 crore rupees to the winners of yellow metal at
Commonwealth Games.
- An amount of 15 lakh rupees will be given to each player participating
in the Olympic Games so that the players can make the state, as well as the
country, proud.
- Mr Khattar said, the move is aimed at promoting sports in the state and
encouraging youths to excel in the field. He said, the state government will
also provide employment to the sportspersons in addition to the cash
incentive.
- The Chief Minister was addressing the concluding function of the
four-day 46th Junior National Kabaddi Competition at Maharishi Dayanand
University in Rohtak yesterday.
