Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 08June 2020

::NATIONAL::

Centre approves opening of protected monuments under ASI

• The Ministry of Culture has approved opening of 820 centrally protected monuments under the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) which have places of worship from today. The Union Minister of Culture  has said that all the protocols issued by the Home Ministry and Health Ministry will be followed in these monuments.
• In its order, Culture Ministry has said that ASI will ensure that preventive measures as stipulated in the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) to contain the spread of COVID-19 in religious places are effectively put in place and scrupulously followed while opening and managing these monuments.
• The Ministry of Culture also asked the ASI to share the list of these 820 monuments to the concerned States so that any state or district specific orders with regard to containment and prevention of spread of COVID-19 are also comprehensively implemented.
• There are 3,691 Centrally-protected monuments and archaeological sites maintained by the ASI which were shut from 17th of March in view of COVID-19.

WMO lauds India’s prediction of cyclone Amphan

• The World Meteorological Organisation has lauded the India Meteorological Department (IMD) for its accurate prediction of Cyclone Amphan. 
• In a letter to IMD Director General MrutunjayMohapatra, WMO Secretary General E Manaenkova said the cyclone advisories were provided to the WMO and in particular Bangladesh which was also affected by the storm.
• The letter said that the accurate prediction of the genesis, track, intensity, landfall point and time as well as associated weather like storm surge, rainfall and wind by the IMD and Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre for Tropical Cyclones , New Delhi with a lead period of more than three days has immensely helped in their early response and actions.

::ECONOMY::

Government notifies Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) Order

• The government has modified public procurement norms to give maximum preference to companies whose goods and services have 50 per cent or more local content, a move aimed at promoting 'Make in India' and making the country self-reliant.
• Companies with less than 20 per cent of domestic content in their goods or services will not able to participate in most of the government tenders and they are categorised as "non-local suppliers".
• It also said that for purchases of goods/services with an estimated value of less than Rs 200 core, global tender enquiry will not be issued except with the approval of the competent authority as designated by the Department of Expenditure.
• For verification of local content, the Class I and II suppliers shall be required to indicate percentage of local content and provide self-certification that the item offered meets the local content requirement norms.
• In general, under the Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) Order, it was envisaged that all central government departments, their attached or subordinate offices and autonomous bodies controlled by the Government of India should ensure that purchase preference will be given to domestic suppliers.

Job demand and household coverage under MGNREGA rises

• The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) has set new records on the number of person-days of work generated and households benefited under it in May, a month that saw largescale reverse migration from cities.
• As many as 417.7 million person-days of work, a 13% rise from a year earlier, was generated last month, according to government data. The number of households covered under the scheme shot up 31% on-year in the past month to 28 million. These are the highest ever for a month since the launch of the scheme 15 years ago.
• Pointing out the challenge before the government to sustain the employment guarantee scheme in the long run with the current demand, Jawaharlal Nehru University economics professor and rural expert Himanshu said the programme had the potential to absorb as many people and create assets in rural India but the cost of doing it would be huge.
• The government has enhanced the allocation for the scheme by ₹40,000 crore from the Rs 61,500 crore sanctioned in Budget 2020-21, taking the total to more than Rs 1 lakh crore ,the highest since its rollout in 2005.

::INTERNATIONAL::

India demands China to maintain April month status at LAC

• India has firmly conveyed its demand to China for restoring the status quo as existed in April along the border during the senior military commander talks on Saturday, sources said.
• The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the talks were held in a “cordial and positive” atmosphere, and both sides will continue the military and diplomatic engagements to “resolve the situation”.
• While India was firm on restoring the status quo of April and pull back of Chinese troops and equipment from inside Indian territory and along the LAC, the Chinese side raised objections to India’s infrastructure development.
• It was conveyed that infrastructure development would go on in Indian territory and that China had already developed infrastructure on its side, sources said.
• Communications between senior military commanders will ensure that tensions don’t flare up on the ground as talks continue at the highest levels to find a way to resolve the issue, an officer, who had served in the area in the past, said on condition of anonymity.

::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::

Researchers develop technology to make high efficient mask from plastic waste bottles

• Researchers at IIT Mandi claim to have developed a technology for making high efficiency masks using waste pet bottles that are not only more breathable than commercially available masks but also can be washed and reused up to 30 times. 
• The team at the Indian Institute of Technology Mandi has also filed a patent for the waste plastic bottles derived filter membrane technology based on electrospinning.
• The researchers shredded waste plastic bottles and dissolved the pieces using a combination of solvents and extruded nanofibres from the solution.The team claimed that the masks will not require any separate protocol to be followed for their disposal than the standard hygiene measures.
• AshishKakoria, a research scholar at the institute and one of the team members, said, "These ultrafine fibres allow less resistance in airflow due to a unique phenomenon called 'slip flow' which improves breathability. Moreover, the thrown away PET bottles can be put to good use using this technique."

::SPORTS::

Fit India to launch films promoting indigenous sports of India

• Sports Ministry’s flagship programme Fit India is joining hands with the Department of School Education and Literacy, to launch a series of special films promoting 10 indigenous sports of India under the Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat initiative.
• The series is aimed at creating awareness about not just the indigenous games but also the culture and heritage of the states to which they belong. Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat aims to create awareness among youngsters about the culture and heritage of states across India.  This initiative aims to further that effort.
• The short films have been curated in a manner to highlight and bring forth the origin, progress and other key aspects of each sport. The 10 sports to be covered in the series are Kho-kho, Gatka, Kalaripayttu, Mallakhamb, Thang-Ta, Sqay, Kabaddi, Roll Ball, Tug of War and Shooting Ball.