Read Daily Current Affairs of 27th January 2020 for UPSC Civil Services (IAS) Prelims and Mains Exam 2020.
Read Current Affairs Notes of 27th January 2020 for UPSC Civil Services Prelims and Mains Examination 2020. Highlighting all National and International contemporary issues important from the exam point of view.
GS-3, Prelims
Topic: Major crops-cropping patterns in various parts of the country, – different types of irrigation and irrigation systems storage, transport and marketing of agricultural produce and issues and related constraints; e-technology in the aid of farmers.
SC order on Sutlej issue violated
- The Supreme Court had ordered the Centre to distribute the water of Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal among the states of Haryana and Punjab. The Haryana Congress has asked why the Centre has not taken any steps in this direction as of yet.
- Haryana has around 40 lakh hectares of cultivable land, of which 33% is irrigated through canal water, 50% through tube wells and the rest by rainwater.
- A network of canal in the state is spread over 30 lakh hectares of land but the canals remain dry due to water scarcity.
GS-3, Prelims
Topic: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.
A bid to restore coral reefs in Gulf of Kutch using bio rocks
- Coral reefs
have been degrading across the world and also in India due to:
- Climate change-induced acidification
- Anthropogenic factors
- India has four
major coral reef areas:
- Andaman and Nicobar Islands
- Lakshadweep
- Gulf of Mannar
- Gulf of Kutch
- To restore coral reefs in Gulf of Kutch, the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) with the help of Gujarat’s Forest Department, is using biorock and mineral accretion technology for the first time.
- A biorock structure has been installed one nautical mile off the Mithapur coast in the Gulf of Kutch on January 19→ location was chosen keeping in mind the high tidal amplitude in the Gulf. The low tide depth at the installation site is four meters, and at high tide it is about eight meters.
- Biorock→ name given to substance formed by electro accumulation of minerals dissolved in seawater on steel structures→ these are lowered onto the sea bed and then connected to a power source (in this case-solar panels floating on the surface).
- Technology functions by passing a small amount of electric current through electrodes in water. The process results in formation of Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3).
- Coral larvae adhere to CaCO3 and grow quickly→ three to four times faster than their actual growth, because they do not spend their energy in building their own calcium carbonate skeletons.
- The calcification process on the biorock has already started and actual success will be measure after a time period of three months.
GS-2, Prelims
Topic: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.
SC affirms 3% quota for disabled in PSUs
- SC has allowed reservation in promotion in all groups for those employed in public sector jobs.
- It said that 3% of reservation should be given to disabled persons both in direct recruitment and in promotions.
GS-2, Prelims
Topic: Development processes and the development industry—the role of NGOs, SHGs, various groups and associations, donors, charities, institutional and other stakeholders.
App aims to academically empower visually impaired students
- To help visually impaired students to write their own exams and freeing them of their dependence on scribes (who are often hard to find and generally inefficient), a Pune based NGO with help of others have created an app called Swalekhan (self-writing).
- The Android text-to speech app (typing tutor) took three years to create and more than 20 schools in Maharashtra have embraced it since it launched in mid-2019.
- Hundreds of students have been taking lessons to type with the help of the app. It uses a Braille paper overlay and 78 innovative and interactive lessons to assist the students.
GS-2, GS-3, Prelims
Topic: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation/Linkages between development and spread of extremism.
Bodoland Area is set to be redrawn
- The Assam’s Bodoland Territorial Area District (BTAD) is set to be redrawn and will be granted a special status.
- The Union Home Ministry and the Assam government are expected to sign a memorandum of settlement with the banned insurgent group National Democratic Front of Bodoland-Progressive (NDFB-P) on January 27.
- The NDFB-P had been demanding a separate land for the Bodos, which is an ethnic group in Assam. Their campaign led to a lot of violence that claimed many lives.
- The proposed memorandum includes the following points:
- The Bodoland Territorial Council, an autonomous council will have special rights for the domiciles, and “outsiders” will have to obtain a “permit” to work in the areas of BTAD.
- Persons allowed to stay within the council for the time mentioned on work permit will not have the right to vote.
- The government of India shall grant general amnesty to the convicts of NDFB and withdraw all the cases and charges framed against NDFB workers by the NIA, the CBI and the police and release all NDFB members from jails.
- In the revamped Bodoland, at least five new districts will be created and included. Jurisdiction of BTAD will extend to→ Sonitpur and Lakhimpur by creating Mainaosri and Holongi districts. Presently BTAD consists of four districts.
- First Bodo accord was signed in 1993 with the All Bodo Students Union→led to the creation of a Bodoland Autonomous Council with limited political powers→in 2003 Bodoland Territorial Council was created with some more financial and other powers.
- The BTAD and other areas mentioned in the Sixth Schedule of the constitution are exempted from the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
GS-2, Prelims
Topic: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.
SC affirms 3% quota for disabled in PSUs
- SC has allowed reservation in promotion in all groups for those employed in public sector jobs.
- It said that 3% of the reservation should be given to disabled persons both in direct recruitment and in promotions.
GS-2, Prelims
Topic: Development processes and the development industry—the role of NGOs, SHGs, various groups and associations, donors, charities, institutional and other stakeholders.
Swalekhan: The app aims to academically empower visually impaired students
- To help visually impaired students to write their own exams and freeing them of their dependence on scribes (who are often hard to find and generally inefficient), a Pune based NGO with help of others have created an app called Swalekhan (self-writing).
- The Android text-to-speech app (typing tutor) took three years to create and more than 20 schools in Maharashtra have embraced it since it launched in mid-2019.
- Hundreds of students have been taking lessons to type with the help of the app. It uses a Braille paper overlay and 78 innovative and interactive lessons to assist the students.
GS-2, GS-3, Prelims
Topic: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation/Linkages between development and spread of extremism.
Bodoland Area is set to be redrawn
- The Assam’s Bodoland Territorial Area District (BTAD) is set to be redrawn and will be granted a special status.
- The Union Home Ministry and the Assam government are expected to sign a memorandum of settlement with the banned insurgent group National Democratic Front of Bodoland-Progressive (NDFB-P) on January 27.
- The NDFB-P had been demanding separate land for the Bodos, which is an ethnic group in Assam. Their campaign led to a lot of violence that claimed many lives.
- The proposed memorandum includes the following points:
- The Bodoland Territorial Council, an autonomous council will have special rights for the domiciles, and “outsiders” will have to obtain a “permit” to work in the areas of BTAD.
- Persons allowed to stay within the council for the time mentioned on work permit will not have the right to vote.
- The government of India shall grant general amnesty to the convicts of NDFB and withdraw all the cases and charges framed against NDFB workers by the NIA, the CBI and the police and release all NDFB members from jails.
- In the revamped Bodoland, atleast five new districts will be created and included. Jurisdiction of BTAD will extend toà Sonitpur and Lakhimpur by creating Mainaosri and Holongi districts. Presently BTAD consists of four districts.
- First Bodo accord was signed in 1993 with the All Bodo Students Unionàled to the creation of a Bodoland Autonomous Council with limited political powersàin 2003 Bodoland Territorial Council was created with some more financial and other powers.
- The BTAD and other areas mentioned in the Sixth Schedule of the constitution are exempted from the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.