TNPSC Current Affairs June 01, 2020

www.tnpsc.academy – TNPSC Current Affairs June 01, 2020 (01/06/2020)

 

Download as PDF

 

Topic: Political Systems in India, Latest Diary of Events

PM CARES Fund Not A ‘Public Authority’ Under RTI Act

Stating that PM CARES FUNDS is not a ‘public authority’ under Section 2(h) of the Right to Information Act, 2005, the Prime Minister’s Office(PMO) has refused to divulge information sought in an application filed under the RTI Act.

What is ‘public authority’ under RTI?

As per Section 2(h) of the RTI Act, “public authority” is means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted:

by or under the Constitution;

by any other law made by Parliament;

by any other law made by State Legislature;

by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government.

The definition of ‘public authority’ also includes bodies owned, controlled or substantially financed by the government and non-governmental organizations substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government.

What is PM CARES fund?

The PM CARES Fund was created on 28 March 2020, “with the primary objective of dealing with any kind of emergency or distress situation, like posed by the COVID-19 pandemic”. It is a “public charitable trust”.

Who administers the fund?

Prime Minister is the ex-officio Chairman of the PM CARES Fund and Minister of Defence, Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Finance, Government of India are ex-officio Trustees of the Fund.

Why it should be monitored?

Reports suggest that PM CARES has already received contributions in excess of Rs. 10,000 crores. It amassed a staggering Rs. 6,500 crores in its very first week with donations from large corporate houses and celebrities.

What’s government‘s argument?

The argument against conferring PM CARES the status of a “public account” seems to be that it is a fund based on voluntary contributions of individuals and organisations, and as such, beyond the full-fledged scrutiny of the CAG.

_

Topic: Latest Diary of Events, Profile of States

23 additional MFP items included in MSP list

Ministry of Tribal Affairs has announced inclusion of 23 additional Minor Forest Produce (MFP) items in Minimum Support Price (MSP) list.

They include Van Tulsi seeds, Van Jeera, Mushroom, Black Rice and Johar Rice among others.

14 of the newly added items, otherwise agricultural produce, are not commercially grown in the North Eastern part of India but are found to grow in the wild in forests. Hence, the Ministry has favourably considered to include these specific items as MFP items for the North-East.

Significance:

This enhances the coverage from 50 to 73 items. This comes in view of the COVID-19 pandemic so that much needed support could be provided to the tribal MFP gatherers.

_

Topic: Latest Diary of Events

ELISA-based Antibody Test

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has advised the States to conduct sero-surveys to measure the coronavirus exposure in the population using IgG ELISA Test.

Significance:

As per the direction of the council, the coronavirus (COVID-19) exposure in the general population as well as in high-risk populations would be measured and the outcome will help “decide the future course of action against the pandemic”.

What is an ELISA-based test?

The Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assays (ELISAs) based test is used for the detection of antibodies that are produced by the body to fight against antigens or foreign substances.

How is it carried out?

ELISA-based tests are blood-based tests, which have high sensitivity and specificity. The test involves drawing the blood of the person. The sample is then placed inside the small wells of an ELISA plate.

These plates are coated with the antigen or the inactivated form of the virus. If the blood contains antibodies, it binds to the antigen and a substrate solution is added to the well. The reaction usually produces a colour change, thus detecting antibodies.

_

Topic: Current Socio-Economic Issues, Latest Diary of Events

Kerala govt. issues data security guidelines

Kerala government issues guidelines on COVID-19 data collection, processing. This is in the wake of the Sprinklr controversy.

What’s the issue?

The government had engaged the U.S.-based data analytics firm in collecting data. It ran into a controversy.

The government had said it had contracted Sprinklr as an emergency measure to crunch the health data of citizens to understand how the pandemic would behave in Kerala.

However, the Opposition had dragged the government to the High Court, accusing it of having used the outbreak as a cover to allow the U.S.-based firm to “harvest and monetise” the medical information of the State’s population.

What’s the reason behind bringing of these guidelines?

Recently, Kerala High Court had expressed its concern over the confidentiality of information gathered from COVID-19 patients.

The Court asked the state government to anonymize all data collected from citizens before allowing access to US company Sprinklr Inc.

The Court had also asked the state government to explore the Central Government’s submission that it’s the Ministry of Information and Technology that is capable of providing a service similar to Sprinklr which later saw them informing that it will be done through State Data Centre (SDC).

_

Topic: Political Systems in India

Rule 266 and 267 of the Lok Sabha

Rajya Sabha secretariat has denied permission for members of the standing committee on Home Affairs to join a meeting of the panel through videoconference.

Why? The reason videoconference meetings were not being allowed was because it violated the principle of confidentiality, as there was no guarantee of a member sitting alone at such events.

What do rules say?

Rule 267 states that committee meetings have to be held in the Parliament building. However, the Speaker has the powers to change the venue. Rule 266 mandates that all committee meetings have to be held in private.

_

Topic: Discovery of New Species

Band-tail Scorpionfish

Researchers have found a rare fish from Sethukarai coast in the Gulf of Mannar. This was the first time that the particular species was found alive in Indian waters.

Scientific name- Scorpaenospsis neglecta. It is well-known for its stinging venomous spines and ability to change colour. The fish is called ‘scorpionfish’ because its spines contain neurotoxic venom.

_

Topic: Latest Diary of Events, General Administration

Missile Park ‘Agneeprastha’ to be set up at INS Kalinga

It aims to capture glimpses of missile history of INS Kalinga from its establishment in 1981 till date. It will be dedicated to all the officers, sailors and support staff of INS Kalinga.

It will also commemorate the award of the prestigious Unit Citation to INS Kalinga for the year 2018-19.

P-70 ‘Ametist’, an underwater launched anti-ship missile from the arsenal of the old ‘Chakra’ (Charlie-1 submarine) which was in service with Indian Navy during 1988-91 is the main attraction point in the Park.

INS Kalinga is a premier Naval Establishment located on the Visakhapatnam– Bheemunipatnam beach road under the Eastern Naval Command.

_

Topic: Geographical Landmarks

Birth of New Planets witnessed first time in human history

The SPHERE instrument of the Very Large Telescope has captured the birth of new planet in the AB Aurigae star system recently. This is the first time in human history the birth of a star is being witnessed.

Key facts:

The birth of the new star was depicted by the European Southern Observatory. The image depicts orange mass of gas. The mass showing the cosmic matter of the universe at gravitational tipping point is exactly the sign for a star system to be born. The spiral formation was captured by the telescope as well. The formation confirms the presence of a baby planet.

_

Topic: Terms in News, Latest Diary of Events

Antifa

Short for “anti-fascists,” antifa is not a single organization but rather an umbrella term for far-left-leaning movements that confront or resist neo-Nazis and white supremacists at demonstrations.

Anti-fascists of the movement tend to be grouped on the leftward fringes of the US political spectrum, many describing themselves as socialists, anarchists, communists or anti-capitalists.

The origin is traced as far back as Nazi Germany.

While the movement has had a presence in several European countries and has come into focus in the United States in recent years, Antifa does not have a formal organisational structure. The movement has been known to have a presence in the US in the 1980s.

Antifa members typically dress in black and often wear a mask at their demonstrations, and follow far-left ideologies such as anti-capitalism. They take up causes such as LGBTQ and indigenous rights. What makes them stand out is the violence.

Why in News?

As massive protests following the death of George Floyd continued to rock the United States, President Donald Trump has announced that the far-left group Antifa would be designated as a terrorist organisation by his government.

_

Topic: International Events

SPIC MACAY

PM addresses SPIC MACAY’s International Convention.

Key facts:

Society for the Promotion of Indian Classical Music And Culture Amongst Youth (SPIC MACAY) is a voluntary youth movement which promotes intangible aspects of Indian cultural heritage.

It does this by promoting Indian classical music, classical dance, folk music, yoga, meditation, crafts and other aspects of Indian culture.

It is a movement with chapters in over 300 towns all over the world. It was established by Dr. Kiran Seth in 1977 at IIT Delhi.

_

Topic: Latest inventions on Science and Health

Ultra Swachh

It is a disinfection unit to disinfect a wide range of materials, including Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs), electronics items, fabrics, etc. And it is developed by DRDO.

The system uses an advanced oxidative process comprising of multiple barrier disruption approach using Ozonated Space Technology for disinfection.

_

Topic: Public Awareness and General Administration

One Nation One Card Scheme: Three more States included

The Union Minister of Consumer Affairs and Food and Public distribution Shri Ram Vilas Paswan announced that three more states namely Sikkim, Odisha and Mizoram are being included in the Integrated Management of Public Distribution System (PDS).