Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 02 March 2020

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::NATIONAL::

Centre launches campaign for empowerment of women & girls through education

• The government has launched a special campaign to take forward the momentum of empowerment of girls and women through education. Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhrial Nishank has said the ministry will celebrate the international women's day in schools and colleges across the country.
  
• He said the week-long special theme-based campaign begins from today in the run up to the International Women's Day on 8th of March. The Minister further said, as a tribute to women, the celebration by HRD Ministry will continue throughout the year.
• The Minister said the government has taken several initiatives since 2014 for the education of the girl child. This is one of the reasons for the success of the scheme of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao whereby the Gross Enrollment Ratio of girls across all levels of education is now higher than boys.
• The Minister said that a self-defence Olympiad will be organized for girls at school-level on the lines of Yoga Olympiad.
• He said to ensure safety and security of girls, self-defence training is imparted to girls of class 6 and 12 belonging to Government Schools.

Centre to review monuments under ASI

• The number of monuments under the Centre’s protection could increase as the government is planning to conduct a review of those under the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and the ones protected by the State governments, Union Minister for Culture Prahlad Singh Patel has said.
• At present, 3,691 monuments nationwide are protected by the ASI, with the highest number, 745, in Uttar Pradesh, according to his reply in the Lok Sabha on February 10.
• The list of the Centrally protected monuments had not seen a substantial increase in many years, and important sites under the State governments could be added to the list, the Minister said. On the other hand, he added, there were some monuments that could be removed from the Central list and placed under the State governments.
• “The list of centrally protected monuments can go up to 10,000. In Tamil Nadu alone, there are about 7,000 temples, many of which are hundreds of years old. On the other hand, there are some monuments under the ASI that can be shifted to the State list,” he said.
• The Minister said there were some sites that could be moved from the Central list allowing development works in their vicinity. He was referring to the ban on construction within 100 metres of a Centrally protected monument and regulated construction within 100-200 metres under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958.

::ECONOMY::

Finance ministry MoS claims continuous improvement of economy

• Union Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs Anurag Singh Thakur today said that taxpayers base has widened and tax collection have increased by 8 percent in the country.
• He said, it indicates the economy is improving continuously. Union Minister was addressing media after interaction with the stakeholders from various trades and industries body at Chandigarh.
• He said that with Sabka Vishwas scheme, 95 percent old cases had been solved and it had provided relief to the traders. The Minister said, under Vivad Se Vishwas scheme tax payers have to pay Income Tax Demand by 3 March 31, 2020 to get the waiver of interest and penalty. He told, in the last 5 years big reforms have been made in the banking sector.
• He said that economic indicators shows the country is moving in the right direction. Replying to a question he said that Government is seriously viewing the impact of spread of corona virus on economy and till now no major impact is visible.

Centre to deploy officials for systematic implementation of development projects

• The Central government has decided to depute 1000 officials to the 110 selected aspirational districts to ensure systematic implementation of development projects.
• This was stated by Union Health Minister Dr Harshvardhan, while presiding over the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Virudunagar Medical College in Tamil Nadu today.
• Dr Harshvardhan pointed out that the Centre is providing all help necessary in the field of health and health education to various state governments. He said that the decision to allocate 11 new medical colleges in Tamil Nadu will do a lot to bring high quality medical facilities to the doorsteps of the common man.
• Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palanisamy laid the foundation stone for the medical college at a well attended function in Virudunagar today afternoon. He also inaugurated a few drinking water projects and distributed benefits under various welfare schemes at the function.
• Six new medical colleges are coming up in Dindugul, Namakkal. Nilgiris,Ramanathapuram, Tiruppur and Virudunagar districts in the initial phase of the scheme to start 11 medical colleges in Tamil Nadu.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

Turkey confirms operation against Syrian regime

• Turkey on Sunday announced the launch of an offensive against the Moscow-backed Syrian regime, as Ankara put pressure on Europe by opening its border for migrants to seek passage to the continent via Greece.
• Tensions have soared between Russia and Turkey after an airstrike blamed on Damascus killed dozens of Turkish soldiers in Idlib last week. Turkish and Syrian military exchanged fire over the weekend with Syrian forces targetting a Turkish drone and artillery and Ankara claiming to have shot down two Syrian fighter jets.
• The confrontation between the Russia-backed Syrian military and NATO-member Turkey, which supports Syrian rebels, has prompted worries over a wider conflict and a migrant crisis in Europe similar to 2015.
• Migrant numbers have already surged along the rugged frontier after Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, seeking to pressure the EU over Syria, said the country had “opened the doors” to Europe.
• Greece said Sunday it has blocked nearly 10,000 migrants at its border with Turkey.Turkish forces hit Syrian regime positions after Mr. Erdogan warned Damascus would “pay a price” for the air strike that killed 34 Turkish troops inside Idlib on Thursday.

South Korea to come out with all out response against COVID due to high number of cases

• In South Korea, President Moon Jae-in has said today that the government was waging "all-out responses" to contain the novel coronavirus. He said, the nation will be able to overcome the COVID-19 outbreak and revive shrunken economy.
• South Korea has the largest national total in the world outside China as the country added 586 more cases, taking the total to 3,736. The country reported one more death today, taking the total death toll to 18.
• Scores of events have been cancelled or postponed over the contagion. South Korea's central bank has warned of a minus growth in the first quarter, noting the epidemic will hit both consumption and exports.
• The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, nearly 90 percent of the cases were in Daegu, the centre of the country's outbreak, and neighbouring North Gyeongsang province.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

Study reveals severe water scarcity in Himalayan region

• Eight towns in the Himalayan region of Bangladesh, Nepal, India and Pakistan were nearly 20%-70% deficient in their water supply, says a survey that appears in the latest edition of the journal Water Policy.
• The researchers surveyed 13 towns across these countries to understand the challenges of the urban denizens of these regions. Unplanned urbanisation and climate change are the key factors responsible for the state of affairs, the study underlines.
• The places surveyed are extremely dependent on springs (ranging between 50% and 100%) for their water, and three-fourths were in urban areas. Under current trends, the demand-supply gap may double by 2050, the researchers warn.
• “Across the region, the encroachment and degradation of natural waterbodies (springs, ponds, lakes, canals, and rivers) and the growing disappearance of traditional water systems (stone spouts, wells, and local water tanks) are evident,” an accompanying press note underlines.
• Although only 3% of the total Hindu Kush Himalayan population lives in larger cities and 8% in smaller towns, projections show that over 50% of the population will be living in cities by 2050, placing “tremendous stress” on water availability.
• Rural areas have typically garnered much of the attention in terms of development and issues surrounding urban environments have been “sidelined”, the authors note.

::SPORTS::

Rafael Nadal wins Mexican open title

• In Tennis, World Number 2 Rafael Nadal captured his first title of the year, defeating unseeded Taylor Fritz in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2, in the final of the ATP Mexico Open yesterday.
• Nadal, playing in his first tournament since losing in the quarter-finals at the Australian Open last month, ousted Fritz in the first career meeting between the two.
• Nadal ceded the world number one ranking to Novak Djokovic after the Australian Open, where the Serb won a record eighth title.