First MPC Meet of 2020
The monetary policy committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India decided to hold policy rates at 5.15 percent on 6 February 2020 and maintained its accommodative stance.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/22794-first-mpc-meet-of-2020.html
#MPC #CPI #Q3FY20 #GDP #NSC #ChetanGhate

Panel to examine fiscal, debt situation
The Fifteenth Finance Commission (15th FC) will set up a panel later this month to examine the fiscal and debt situation of the Centre and states and present a road map, on the lines of the erstwhile Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management panel, the Commission’s Chairman N K Singh said on 5 February 2020.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/22793-panel-to-examine-fiscal-debt-situation.html
#NKSingh #15thFC #Article293 #FY21 #FRBM #Budget

MAVEN makes surprising discovery
NASA’s ongoing Mars mission through its Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft has made surprising discoveries that scientists believe may help understand the disruptive phenomena on Earth.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/22792-maven-makes-surprising-discovery.html
#MAVEN #NASA #aircraft #spacecraft #Earth

India slips in International IP Index
India’s slipped to 40th position on the International Intellectual Property (IP) Index, which analyses the IP climate in 53 global economies, this year, according to a report of the US Chamber of Commerce’s Global Innovation Policy Center.Last year India was ranked at 36th position out of 50 countries.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/22791-india-slips-in-international-ip-index.html
#India #International #IP #GIPC #IPR #France

Draft UN resolution on Libya
A UN resolution that would endorse a plan to restore peace to Libya and condemn the recent increase in violence faced opposition on 5 February 2020 from Russia and South Africa.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/22790-draft-un-resolution-on-libya.html
#Libya #resolution #SouthAfrica #UN #British

Astronaut lands back on Earth
Koch touched down on 6 February 2020 on the Kazakh steppe after 328 days in space along with Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency and Alexander Skvortsov of the Russian space agency.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/22789-astronaut-lands-back-on-earth.html
#Astronaut #Earth #NASA #ISS #ESA #Kazakh

DRDO indigenous tech
The DRDO installations at the DefExpo 2020 in Lucknow have proven to be among the largest crowd-pullers. The Anti-Satellite (ASAT) missile — successfully tested last year, making India the fourth country to successfully attack satellites — is attracting a lot of attention.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/22810-drdo-indigenous-tech.html
#DRDO #DefExpo2020 #satellites #ROV #IEDs #ASAT

Coronavirus conundrum
Keen to avoid stigmatising the city of Wuhan, the World Health Organization is treading carefully on naming the new virus. The UN health agency's official temporary name for the disease, which it has designated as a global health emergency, is "2019-nCoV acute respiratory disease".
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/22809-coronavirus-conundrum.html
#Coronavirus #ICTV #MERS #SARS #WHO #nCoV

India's fiscal gap
At around 7.5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), the revenue-to-expenditure gap in India is one of the highest among major emerging markets. According to estimates by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), total government expenditure was equivalent to around 27.1 per cent of GDP while total government revenue was around 19.6 percent of GDP in the last calendar year.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/22808-india-s-fiscal-gap.html
#India #GDP #IMF #SriLanka #ASEAN

FC constitute a panel
The Fifteenth Finance Commission (FC) has constituted a panel to examine whether a separate mechanism be set up for the funding of defence and internal security.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/22862-fc-constitute-a-panel.html
#FC #NKSingh #GDP #FRBM #GST #XVFC

SC rejects new schedule for AGR payments
In a major setback for the telecom companies, the Supreme Court on 14 February 2020 rejected the plea seeking new schedule of AGR payments. Coming down heavily on the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for not taking coercive action against telcos for failing to repay, the apex court ordered contempt proceedings against Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/22861-sc-rejects-new-schedule-for-agr-payments.html
#SC #AGR #DoT #apexcourt #SUC #COAI #SupremeCourt

India, Portugal ink seven pacts
India and Portugal on 14 February 2020 signed seven agreements to boost cooperation in a range of areas after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa held extensive talks.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/22860-india-portugal-ink-seven-pacts.html
#India #Portugal #Modi #RashtrapatiBhavan #AbuSalem

RK Pachauri died
RK Pachauri, 79, founder director of New Delhi-based think tank The Energy and Resources Institute (Teri) and former chairman of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), passed away on 13 February 2020.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/22859-rk-pachauri-died.html
#RK #Pachauri #IPCC #Teri #IndianRailways #NPP

Space snowman reveals secrets
NASA’s space snowman is revealing fresh secrets from its home far beyond Pluto. More than a year after its close encounter with the snowman-shaped object, the New Horizons spacecraft is still sending back data from more than 4 billion miles (6.4 billion kilometers) away.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/22858-space-snowman-reveals-secrets.html
#Space #NASA #snowman #spacecraft #NewHorizons

FRBM Act not breached in budget
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on 16 February 2020 said the 2020-21 union budget was prepared keeping the FRBM (Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management) in mind even as she maintained she would be remembered for presenting the "longest prepared budget" than for "longest speech" on it.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/22879-frbm-act-not-breached-in-budget.html
#FRBM #budget #NirmalaSitharaman #GDP #RBI

India CSR Reporting Survey 2019
More companies in India are complying with corporate social responsibility norms under the Companies Act, 2013, with 76 per cent firms having spent 2 per cent or more of their profits on such initiatives during 2019, according to a report.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/22878-india-csr-reporting-survey-2019.html
#CSR #India #KPMG #ReportingSurvey #environmental

World’s first yoga university outside India
World’s first yoga university outside India would start its post graduation course later this year in the US along with research in the ancient Indian practice and the admissions for it will begin in April, university officials said on 15 February 2020.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/22877-world-s-first-yoga-university-outside-india.html
#World #VAYU #HRNagendra #NASA #LosAngeles

Mysterious ‘ghost’ ancestry
Scientists examining the genomes of West Africans have found the latest evidence of humankind’s complicated genetic ancestry as they detected signs that a mysterious extinct human species interbred with our own species tens of thousands of years ago in Africa.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/22876-mysterious-ghost-ancestry.html
#Mysterious #ghost #UCLA #DNA #Africa #introgression

FC sets up group on farm exports
The Fifteenth Finance Commission (FC) has set up an eight-member group under ITC chairman Sanjiv Puri to suggest performance incentives for states to encourage farm exports and promote crops that would “enable high import substitution”.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/22890-fc-sets-up-group-on-farm-exports.html
#FC #ITC #APEDA #FY19 #RadhaSingh #Article280

India gets Champion of Migratory Species award
India was accorded Champion Plus status by the Convention on Conservation of Migratory Species Wild Animals (CMS), a United Nations body, for its commitment to the small grants programme (SGS) for conservation of migratory species and for keeping its energy projects compliant with the guidelines of Energy Task Force, at the 13th conference of parties (COP13) which began in Gandhinagar on 17 February 2020.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/22889-india-gets-champion-of-migratory-species-award.html
#India #MigratorySpecies #SGS #COP13 #GIFT #COP

India becomes 5th largest economy
ndia emerged as the world's fifth largest economy by overtaking the UK and France in 2019, says a report. A US-based think tank World Population Review in its report said that India is developing into an open-market economy from its previous autarkic policies.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/22888-india-becomes-5th-largest-economy.html
#India #PPP #WPR #GDP #Japan #France

First ever a solar-powered Aircraft flies successfully
Persistent High Altitude Solar Aircraft (PHASA-35) has the potential to stay to remain airborne for nearly a year and has been designed to work unmanned within the stratosphere, above the weather and conventional air traffic.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/22887-first-ever-a-solar-powered-aircraft-flies-successfully.html
#solar #Aircraft #PHASA35 #HALE #DSTL #satellite

Tendulkar wins Laureus Sporting Moment Award
Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton and footballer Lionel Messi were declared joint winners of the prestigious Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award at a glittering ceremony on 17 February 2020.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/22886-tendulkar-wins-laureus-sporting-moment-award.html
#Tendulkar #LSMA #ICCWorldCup #wins #FLM

Gender Social Norms Index
Nine in 10 people are prejudiced against women, such as thinking university education is more important for men or that men deserve jobs more if work is scarce, the United Nations said on 5 March 2020.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/23039-gender-social-norms-index.html
#GSNI #UNDP #NewZealand #InternationalWomensDay

Inclusive Internet Index 2020
India has been ranked 40th out of 100 countries on the inclusive internet index 2020 released by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). In South Asia, Pakistan ranked the lowest (76th), India at 40th, Sri Lanka at 56 and Bangladesh on the 70th spot.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/23038-inclusive-internet-index-2020.html
#III2020 #EIU #GDP #Bangladesh #InclusiveInternetIndex

CPPP to merge with GeM
India plans to integrate its central public procurement portal (CPPP) with the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) to further improve buying and selling process for ministries, departments and other agencies.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/23037-cppp-to-merge-with-gem.html
#CPPP #GeM #TalleenKumar #GFR #POC

CIC appointed
Information Commissioner Bimal Julka was appointed as the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) on 6 March 2020, according to a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/23036-cic-appointed.html
#CIC #BimalJulka #RashtrapatiBhavan #CPA #RamNathKovind

NASA’s Mars rover named
NASA’s Mars rover for the 2020 mission finally has an official name: Perseverance. Alexander Mather, a seventh-standard student, submitted the winning entry to NASA’s “Name the Rover” essay contest.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/23035-nasa-s-mars-rover-named.html
#NASA #Mars #Earth #JPL #planet #Perseverance

India's economic recovery to be 'U' shaped
India's economic recovery is more likely to be a 'U' or 'W' shaped rather than 'V' as the impact of Covid-19 will be profound on a nation that was already struggling for growth prior to the pandemic.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/24089-india-s-economic-recovery-to-be-u-shaped.html
#Indiaseconomic #economicrecovery #Ushaped #GDP

India retains its position on PPP basis
India has retained and consolidated its position as the third-largest economy after China and the US in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP) for 2017, said the government on 23 June 2020 quoting the World Bank data.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/24099-india-retains-its-position-on-ppp-basis.html
#PPP #China #Indiaretains #GDP #grossdomesticproduct

First economic contraction in 4 decades
India’s gross domestic product (GDP) contracted 23.9 per cent in the April-June quarter of 2020-21 from that in the same quarter last financial year, showed official data released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) on 31 August 2020.
Read More: https://www.ksgindia.com/study-material/news-for-aspirants/25341-first-economic-contraction-in-4-decades.html
#GDP #economic #NSO #grossdomesticproduct #GVA #UPSCOnlineClasses #OnlineClassses #IASOnlineclasses

KSG Podcast - RCEP now in force | best daily editorial analysis for upsc #prelims2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0sQcq_XCFo
#UPSCOnlineClasses #OnlineClassses #IASOnlineclasses

Watch: National Strategy on additive Manufacturing #additivemanufacturing #additive
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4J6XS8V58E

KSG Podcast - 17th Gender Budget | daily editorial analysis for upsc aspirants
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpCRlclzLp8&t=1s
#UPSCOnlineClasses #OnlineClassses #IASOnlineclasses

KSG Podcast - GDP 2nd Advance Estimates means | best daily editorial analysis for upsc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1GE36llPqQ
#UPSCOnlineClasses #OnlineClassses #IASOnlineclasses

KSG Podcast - RCEP now in force | best daily editorial analysis for upsc #prelims2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0sQcq_XCFo&list=PLCUwtp5IghZmJBi1h7xiAhsORKmmumVsR&index=58
#UPSCOnlineClasses #OnlineClassses #IASOnlineclasses

KSG Podcast - 17th Gender Budget | daily editorial analysis for upsc aspirants
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpCRlclzLp8&list=PLCUwtp5IghZmJBi1h7xiAhsORKmmumVsR&index=64
#UPSCOnlineClasses #OnlineClassses #IASOnlineclasses

What does the study show?

The new analysis focuses on the environmental dissemination of ARGs. With every 1% rise in PM2.5 pollution, antibiotic resistance increased between 0.5-1.9% depending on the pathogen — a link which has only intensified with time.
The researchers added that this airborne spread may have also caused premature deaths in India and China, among other countries in South Asia, North Africa and the Middle East which are population dense.
An average of 18.2 million years of life was lost in 2018 worldwide, resulting in an annual economic loss of $395 billion (more than Pakistan’s GDP) due to premature deaths.
The paper is unique in its scale and scope: global antibiotic resistance is driven by multiple factors, one being the “effect derived from the environment, which is poorly understood in relation to antibiotic resistance”.
The researchers collected data from 116 countries spanning almost two decades, to observe the link between rising PM2.5 and antibiotic resistance. The researchers also analysed other predictors, including sanitation services, antibiotic use, population, education, climate.
How is air linked to antibiotic resistance?

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria and genes travel through different pathways: food, soil, water, air, and even direct contact with sources such as animals.
The hypothesis is that ARGs, when emitted from, say, hospitals or livestock farming, could latch on to pollutant particles, which were found to contain “diverse antibiotic-resistant bacteria and antibiotic-resistance genes, which are transferred between environments and directly inhaled by humans, causing respiratory-tract injury and infection.”
When suspended in the environment or breathed into the lungs, the ARGs could enter the bacteria found in the human body and solidify its resistance to drugs. “PM 2.5 can facilitate the horizontal gene transfer of antibiotic-resistant genes between bacteria,” the research found.
PM2.5 contains a high concentration of antibiotic resistance-determinant genes, and these particles can travel far and wide due to wind speed, water evaporation, and dust transport.
ARGs are also more abundant in urban air particles than in sediment, soil or rivers, the analysis showed.

#upsc #news #headline #airpollution #antibiotic #health #diseases #drugs #bacteria #immune #news #globally #malaria #clinical #enviroment #ciprofloxacin #WHO #escherichiacoli #MDRTB #izoniazid #rifampin #nation #cholera #tuberculosis #antibiotics #china #GDP #hypothesis #sources #infection

Today's Headlines - 24 August 2023
Poor nations forced to rely on fossil fuels
GS Paper - 3 (Energy)

Poor countries with heavy debts have been forced to continue to rely on fossil fuels for generating revenue to return the loans taken from richer countries and private lenders to meet various economic exigencies like the pandemic three years ago, a new report said. These countries, mostly in the global south, may find it impossible to phase out fossil fuels and transition to renewable energy as revenues from fossil fuel projects “are often overinflated and require huge investments to reach expected returns, leading to further debt”.

What is the “debt-fossil fuel trap”?

The report, ‘The Debt-Fossil Fuel Trap’, published on 21 August 2023 by the anti-debt campaigners Debt Justice and partners in affected countries.
The global south — a term used for developing, less developing and underdeveloped countries, located in Africa, Latin America, and Asia — countries are increasingly being burdened by enormous debts in recent years.
Their “external debt payments (money borrowed from richer countries, or multilateral creditors like the World Bank and IMF, or private lenders such as banks) has gone up by 150% between 2011 and 2023, reaching their highest levels in 25 years”, said the report.
Moreover, 54 countries are in a debt crisis — they had to cut their public sending budgets during the pandemic to repay the loans, the analysis found.
The situation is worsened by extreme weather events, which force these countries to borrow more money as they lack adequate finances and resources for adaptation, mitigation and tackling loss and damage.
For instance, Dominica’s debt as a percentage of GDP rose from 68% to 78% after Hurricane Maria hit the island in 2017.
To deal with the mounting debts, these countries have turned to extracting more fossil fuels.
The country’s strategy to reduce debt may end up adding to debt levels without generating adequate revenue to repay, which could force Argentia to further expand its fossil fuel projects, the report added. This is known as the “debt-fossil fuel trap”.
Ending the high debt burdens

The report has laid out a few recommendations to help global south countries exit the “debt-fossil fuel trap”.
It said clean energy, wealthy governments and institutions must implement “ambitious debt cancellation for all countries that need it, across all creditors, free from economic conditions.
They should also stop accepting repayments made through fossil fuel projects’ revenue.
Meanwhile, “Bilateral and multilateral finance should be aligned with a 1.5 degree warming scenario and fair shares calculations, and not be used to finance fossil fuels.

#upsc #news #headline #nations #fossilfuels #energy #countries #revenue #pandemic #globalsouth #fuel #trap #africa #latin #worldbank #IMF #payments #GDP #island #dominica #strategy #projects #warming #bilateral #multilateral #finance #fairshares #america #asia #justice #renewable #poornations #forced

Today's Headlines - 26 August 2023
BRICS gets six new members
GS Paper - 2 (International Relations)

The five-member BRICS invited six more countries to join the alliance, in a move which can strengthen its claim of being a ‘voice of the Global South’ on one hand, while raising concerns about China’s increasing dominance on the other. BRICS consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. In its ongoing summit at Johannesburg, South Africa, it has invited Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Egypt, and Ethiopia. Their membership will begin in January.

Why New Members

Adding new members strengthens the group’s heft as a spokesperson of the developing world. BRICS currently represents around 40% of the world’s population and more than a quarter of the world’s GDP.
With the additions, it will represent almost half the world’s population, and will include three of the world’s biggest oil producers, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Iran.
The rush towards BRICS is driven by two basic impulses: “First, there is considerable anti-US sentiment in the world, and all these countries are looking for a grouping where they can use that sentiment to gather together.
Second, there is a lot of appetite for multipolarity, for a platform where countries of the Global South can express their solidarity.”
The formation of BRICS in 2009 was driven by the idea that the four emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, India, and China would be the future economic powerhouses of the world. South Africa was added a year later.
While the economic performance of BRICS has been mixed, the war in Ukraine — which has brought the West together on the one hand and strengthened the China-Russia partnership on the other — has turned it into an aspiring bloc that can challenge the western geopolitical view, and emerge as a counterweight to Western-led fora like the Group of 7 and the World Bank.
What this means for India

If India’s presence at the recent G7 summit in Hiroshima, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi also participated in an informal Quad summit, was seen as a sign of New Delhi’s US tilt, it continues to attach importance to the “anti-West” BRICS.
India is also part of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), and despite problems, it has relations with Russia, with China.
While China does want BRICS to be an anti-western group, the Indian view is that it is a “non-western” group and should stay that way.
Among the new members, while India looks at all of them as partnerships worth developing, concerns have been raised that the group could become more pro-China and sideline New Delhi’s voice and interests.

#upsc #news #headline #brics #newmembers #internationalrelations #globalsouth #china #brazil #russia #india #southafrica #johannesburg #iran #egypt #ethiopia #world #GDP #population #quarter #economics #ukraine #worldbank #hiroshima #shanghaicooperation #organisation #SCO #NEWDELHI #prochina #interests #developing

Today's Headlines - 08 September 2023
G20 agrees to give African Union membership
GS Paper - 2 (International Relations)

Group of 20 nations agreed to grant the African Union permanent membership status, and leaders are expected to announce the decision during a summit in India. The move would give the 55-member African Union, which is currently classified as an “invited international organization,” the same status as the EU. It’s part of a drive to provide African countries with a stronger voice on global issues such as climate change and emerging-market debt, particularly as emerging markets in the so-called Global South take on a more prominent role in world affairs.

More about the News

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is hosting the G20 summit, has made it a priority to grant the African Union full membership.
Countries like Germany, Brazil, and Canada have also expressed their support for African Union membership to the G20.
The G20 or Group of 20 is an intergovernmental forum of the world's major developed and developing economies.
The members represent around 85% of global GDP, over 75% of global trade, and about two-thirds of the world population.
The European Union is keen to take some credit for the G20 step. Leaders from the bloc plan to hold a high-level meeting with African leaders on the sidelines of the summit, which is being skipped by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Dubbed a “mini-summit,” the Europe-Africa meeting will include a discussion of the consequences of Russia’s war against Ukraine on global food security — a situation that threatens to escalate after Putin refused to revive a UN-backed deal to allow grain shipments after talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Other topics include efforts to reform the global financial architecture, improving conditions for private investments and infrastructure projects in Africa, as well as the situation in the Sahel region.
Flashback
The African Union (AU) is a continental body consisting of the 55 member states that make up the countries of the African Continent.
It was officially launched in 2002 as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU, 1963-1999).

#upsc #news #headline #G20 #African #union #membership #internationalrelations #20nations #leaders #climatechange #market #organization #global #south #news #primeminister #NarenderaModi #G20Summit #germany #brazil #canada #intergovermentalforum #GDP #world #population #european #vladimirputin #projects #AU #55members #unity

Basics of GDP - Real vs NOMINAL GDP | SBR Series | Economy | Dr A R Khan | KSG India

https://youtu.be/CNAk7g6p-sM