Daily Current Affairs [IAS UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam] – 1st January 2019

Archives

(PRELIMS + MAINS FOCUS)

Digital Detox App by SHUT Clinic

Part of: GS Mains II – Health issue

In news:

• Doctors at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, have come up with a mobile app that helps people reduce mobile usage.
• So, if you are one of those tech addicts who can’t help but spend most your waking life glued to your cell phone, relief may finally be at hand – on your cell phone.
• The app has been found to be effective in bringing about behavioural changes.

Pic: https://d39gegkjaqduz9.cloudfront.net/TH/2019/01/01/DEL/Delhi/TH/5_01/6a2214cf_2634501_101_mr.jpg

2019: A cluster of anniversaries

2019 marks –

• 150th anniversary of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi
• 150th anniversary of the death of Mirza Ghalib
• 100th anniversary of the Government of India Act of 1919
• 100th anniversary of Rowlatt Act or Black Act
• 100th anniversary of Jallianwala Bagh massacre
• 50th anniversary of the Gujarat riots of September-October 1969
• 35th anniversary of first Indian to be in outer space
• 35th anniversary of Operation Blue Star

Note: All the above historic persons and happenings are important for exam this year. While preparing, give more focus on these issues/events.

Monuments of national importance

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains I – Conservation of Heritage, Monuments and Culture

In news:

ASI declared 6 monuments of national importance in 2018.

1. 125-year-old Old High Court Building in Nagpur, Maharashtra
2. Mughal-era monument in Agra — Haveli of Agha Khan
3. Mughal-era monument in Agra — Hathi Khana
4. The ancient Neemrana Baori in Rajasthan’s Alwar district
5. The Group of Temples at Ranipur Jharail in Odisha’s Bolangir; and
6. The Vishnu Temple in Kotali, Pithoragarh district, Uttarkhand,

Do you know?

• In 2016 and 2017, no new monument was included in the list of sites of national importance.
• The last monument to be included in the list, in 2015, was the Vishnu Temple in Nadavayal in Kerala’s Wayanad district.
• There were 3,686 centrally protected monuments/sites under the ASI in the country; the number has now increased to 3,693.
• Uttar Pradesh (745 monuments/sites), Karnataka (506) and Tamil Nadu (413) have the highest number of ASI-maintained sites.
• According to information available with the Ministry of Culture, about 321 of these centrally protected monuments/sites have been encroached upon.

Person in news: Sudhir Bhargava

In news:

• The government has appointed Sudhir Bhargava as the new Chief Information Commissioner.
• He has been a Commissioner since 2015.

Do you know?

• The CIC is the highest appeal body under the Right to Information Act.
• The Central Information Commission (CIC) set up under the Right to Information Act is the authorised body, established in 2005, under the Government of India to act upon complaints from those individuals who have not been able to submit information requests to a Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer due to either the officer not have been appointed, or because the respective Central Assistant Public Information Officer or State Assistant Public Information Officer refused to receive the application for information under the RTI Act.
• CIC and members are appointed by the President of India on the recommendation of a committee consisting of—Prime Minister as Chairperson, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha; a Union Cabinet Minister to be nominated by the Prime Minister.

(MAINS FOCUS)

INTERNATIONAL

TOPIC:General studies 2 

• Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s
  interests
• Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora.
• Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate.

Globalization at the crossroads

Year 2018 can be considered a historic turning point.

• One, because of poorly managed globalization which led to nationalist “take-back-control” movements and a rising wave of protectionism that has undermined the 70-year-old US-led international order.
• Two, the stage is set for China to develop its own parallel international institutions, which has resulted in a world which is divided between two competing global-governance systems.

2008-2018 decade marked an epochal shift in the balance of economic power.

• During 2008 global financial crisis, North America and Europe comprised around 15% of the world’s population, but accounted for 57% of total economic activity, 61% of investment, around 50% of manufacturing, and 61% of global consumer spending.
• But the world’s economic centre of gravity has shifted since then. Whereas around 40% of production, manufacturing, trade, and investment was located outside the West in 2008, over 60% is today.
• Asia will account for 50% of global economic output by 2050.
• China’s per capita income might still be less than half that of the US in 2050; but the sheer size of the Chinese economy will nonetheless raise new questions about global governance and geopolitics.

For decades after its formation in the 1970s, the Group of Seven (G7)—Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US —essentially presided over the entire world economy.

But by 2008, North American and European leaders were debating whether it was time to create a new premier forum for economic cooperation that would include emerging economies.

There were heated debates – On one side were those who wanted to keep the group small (one early US proposal envisioned a G7+5); on the other side were those who wanted the group to be as inclusive as possible.

Today, Nigeria, Thailand, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates’ economies are each larger than the smallest G20 economy (South Africa), yet none of these countries is a member.

Do you know?

• When the original IMF Articles of Agreement were being negotiated in 1944, there was some disagreement over whether the new body should be headquartered in Europe or the US.
• Eventually, it was decided that it should be based in the capital city of the country with the largest share of voting rights (which tracks a country’s share of the global economy).
• This means that, within a decade or two, China could demand that the IMF be headquartered in Beijing. (However, America may leave the IMF before the IMF leaves America)

Crux/Conclusion:

• World’s economic centre of gravity has shifted since 2008.
• The world is experiencing an epochal rebalancing that is not just economic, but also geopolitical.
• Unless the West can find a way to uphold multilateralism in an increasingly multipolar world, China is expected to develop alternative financial and governance institutions, as it has with the establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
• Globalization is at a crossroads. One way or another, international organizations and multilateral frameworks will need to accommodate the new “poles” of geopolitical power that are emerging.

Connecting the dots:

• Is globalisation retreating? (Essay)
• The world is experiencing an epochal rebalancing that is not just economic, but also geopolitical. Do you agree? Critically examine.

INTERNATIONAL/SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

TOPIC:General studies 2 

• Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s
  interests
• Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora.
• Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate.
• Science and Technology

China’s BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS)

• China’s BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) is considered to rival the widely-used American GPS.
• China has now started providing global services. In other words, the BDS has expanded from a regional system to a global navigation system.
• The positioning accuracy of the system has reached 10 metres globally and five metres in the Asia-Pacific region. Its velocity accuracy is 0.2 metres per second, while its timing accuracy stands at 20 nanoseconds.
• China plans to provide navigation services with the BDS to the Belt and Road partner countries by the end of this year, marking a key step toward a global navigation service

Do you know?

• Pakistan has become the first country to use the BeiDou system ending its reliance on the Global Positioning System (GPS).
• The BeiDou system started serving China in 2000 and the Asia-Pacific region in 2012.
• It will be the fourth global satellite navigation system after the US GPS, Russia’s GLONASS and the European Union’s Galileo.
• India too is building its navigational system called the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), with an operational name of NAVIC.
• China plans to launch more BDS satellites o form a complete global network, which will further enhance the global service performance.
• The total number of satellite navigation patent applications in China has reached 54,000, ranking first in the world.

Pic: https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/gps-wars-2.png

(TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE)

Model questions: (You can now post your answers in comment section)

Note:

• Featured Comments and comments Up-voted by IASbaba are the “correct answers”.
• IASbaba App users – Team IASbaba will provide correct answers in comment section. Kindly refer to it and update your answers.

Q.1) Consider the following statements with respect to ‘Central Information Commission (CIC)’

1. It has been constituted under the Right to Information Act, 2005
2. Chief Information Commissioner is appointed by the President of India

Select the correct statements

1. 1 Only
2. 2 Only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2

Q.2) Central Information Commissioner and Information Commissioners are appointed by the president on the recommendations of a nomination committee. Who of the following is not a member of this nomination committee?

1. Prime Minister
2. A Union Minister Nominated by Prime Minister
3. Speaker of Lok Sabha
4. Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha

Q.3) Which of the following statements are NOT correct regarding Central Information Commission?

1. It is a statutory body.
2. It consists of four members with one Chief information Commissioner and three Information Commissioners.
3. It has a jurisdiction over Central Government Bodies, PSU and MNCs working in India.

Select the code from following:

1. 1 only
2. 2 and 3
3. 1 and 3
4. All of the above

Q.4) Consider the following pairs and choose the correct pair/s from the code given below

Monuments of national importance : :  Located in

1. Haveli of Agha Khan : : Alwar
2. Ranipur Jharail Temples : : Pithoragarh
3. Neemrana Baori : : Agra
4. Hathi Khana : : Jaipur

 Code:

1. 1 and 2 only
2. 2 only
3. 1, 2 and 3
4. None

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