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Daily Current Affairs IAS | UPSC Prelims

and Mains Exam – 8th January 2020
Published on Jan. 8, 2020, 5:27 p.m.   IASbaba's Daily Current Affairs

IAS UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 8th

January 2020
Archives (https://iasbaba.com/current-affairs-for-ias-upsc-
exams-2016-2017/)

(PRELIMS + MAINS FOCUS)

GDP growth rate for 2019-20 expected to be 5% (previous scal

6.8%)
Part of: GS Prelims – National Income and GS-III- Economy  In News
GDP decline in 2019-20 s attributed to slowdown in Manufacturing (2%) and Construction sector
(3.2%)
Gross Domestic product(GDP) is the total monetary or market value of all the nished goods and
services produced within a country's borders in a speci c time period.
Gross value Addition (GVA) is the sum of a country’s GDP and net of subsidies and taxes in the
economy (GVA=GDP+ Subsidies on Products−Taxes on Products)
GVA gives a picture of the state of economy from the producers’ side or supply side, the GDP gives
the picture from the consumers’ side or demand perspective

Genome of Indian Cobra mapped

Part of: GS Prelims- Government Schemes and GS Mains III-Science & Technology In News
Researchers have mapped the genome of cobra which will help in understanding the chemical
constituents of the snake venom and contribute to development of new anti-venom therapies.

What is Gene?
Gene is part of chromosome, a unit of heredity which is transferred from a parent to offspring and is
held to determine some characteristic of the offspring.
 A genome is an organism’s complete set of DNA, including all of its genes

Value addition for Prelims

Genome India Initiative is a project by Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science
and Technology that involves scanning of 20,000 Indian individual’s genomes (in the next ve years
2019-24)
Objective: To develop diagnostic tests and effective therapies for treating diseases (such as cancer)

GOCO model: Government Owned Contractor Operated Model

Part of: GS Prelims and GS Mains –III- Security, Investment Models In News
In order to improve operational ef ciency, Indian army is looking to implement the Government
Owned Contractor Operated (GOCO) model for its maintenance of its Army Base workshops
The GOCO model was one of the recommendations of the Lt. Gen. DB Shekatkar committee to
enhance combat capability and re-balance defence expenditure.

Infant Mortality Rate: Outrage over deaths of infants in Gujarat

& Rajasthan
Part of: GS Prelims – Health Statistics and GS-II- Health In News
The Infant mortality rate (IMR) is the number of deaths per 1,000live births of children under one
year of age. Currently (2017) India’s IMR stands at 33 per 1,000 live births
India has an annual birth cohort of approximately 26 million
Every day, there is an estimated death of 2,350 babies aged less than one year(annually 8.5 lakh
deaths)
According to the National Family Health Survey-4, only 78.9% births in India happen in a
facility. This means 21.1% or about 54 lakh births in a year still happen outside of a facility where
hygiene levels are low and/or without the help of a trained health worker.

Value Additions
India Newborn Action Plan (INAP) was launched in 2014 to make concerted efforts towards
attainment of the goals of “Single Digit Neonatal Mortality Rate” and “Single Digit Still birth Rate,”
Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) and Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakaram (JSSK) was started to
promote institutional deliveries so as to reduce IMR

10% reservation Quota for Economically Weaker Sections

Part of: GS Prelims – Articles of Constitution and GS II- Governance In News
Centre has held that it is States’ prerogative to provide 10% economic reservation in government
jobs and admission to education institutions.

Do You Know?
It was 103rd Constitutional Amendment Act that introduced provide 10 per cent reservation in
government jobs and education (except in minority educational institutions) to economically
backward section in the general category
The act inserted Articles 15(6) and 16(6) of the Constitution that provided for these reservations.
Article 46 of the Constitution (DPSP) enjoins that the State shall promote with special care the
educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people.
National Pension System (NPS)
Part of: GS Prelims – Government Initiatives and GS-III- Economy In News
7,000 corporates in the country are currently registered with PFRDA, but only 10 lakh employees
from this corporate sector are covered under the NPS.
NPS currently has a total subscriber base of 3.25 crore, (with ₹4 lakh crore under investment as on
December 31)

About NPS
National Pension System (NPS) is a government-sponsored pension scheme launched in January
2004 for government employees. However, in 2009, it was opened to all sections.
Implementation Agency: NPS is being implemented and regulated by PFRDA(Pension Fund
Regulatory and Development Authority) – a statutory body established by PFRDA Act, 2013

Who can join NPS?

Any Indian citizen (Both Resident and Non-Resident) between 18 and 60 years can join NPS. The
only condition is that the person must comply with know your customer (KYC) norms.
However, OCI (Overseas Citizens of India) and PIO (Person of Indian Origin) card holders and Hindu
Undivided Family (HUFs) are not eligible for opening of NPS account.

Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE)

Part of: GS Prelims and GS-I- Geography, Climatology In News
SASE which is a laboratory of the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) has
issued an Avalanche warning to Leh in Ladakh region.
SASE’s objective: To be a centre of excellence in ‘Cryospheric Science and Technology’ to facilitate
high operational mobility for troops in snow bound regions of Indian Himalayas.
HQ of SASE is located near Manali, Himachal Pradesh.
The cryosphereis the frozen water part of the Earth system. Thus it includes those portions of
Earth's surface where water is in solid form, including sea ice, lake ice, river ice, snow cover, glaciers,
ice caps, ice sheets, and frozen ground.

(MAINS FOCUS)

NATIONAL
TOPIC: General Studies 2:

Indian Democracy and related issues

Governance issues
Indian Polity 

Concept of Democracy, then and now

Introduction:
 We are all familiar with the idea that democracy is a government of the people, by the people, and
for the people.
Today, the most common form of democracy is representative democracy, in which citizens elect
of cials to make political decisions, formulate laws, and administer programmes for the public good.

Different de nitions of Democracy –

“Democracy is a government of the people, for the people, and by the people.”
- Abraham Lincoln
“Democracy really means nothing more or less than the rule of the whole people, expressing their
sovereign will by their votes.”
- Bryce
“Democracy is not a way of governing, whether by majority or otherwise, but primarily a way of
determining, who shall govern, and broadly to what ends.”
- Maclver

Idea of Democracy during British India and Post-independence Mahatma Gandhi on Democracy
“Democracy must mean the art of science of mobilizing the entire physical, economic and spiritual
resources of all the various sections of people in the service of the common good for all.”
“To safeguard democracy the people must have a keen sense of independence, self-respect and their
oneness, and should insist upon choosing as their representatives only such persons as are good and
true.”

Gandhian concept of Self Rule means Swaraj is real democracy, where people's power rests in the
individuals and each one realizes that he or she is the real master of one's self. Nehru on Democracy
“Democracy, if it means anything, means equality; not merely the equality of possessing a vote but
economic and social equality.”

Karachi resolution
In 1931, the resolution at the Karachi session re ected the vision of democracy that meant not
just formal holding of elections but a substantive reworking of the Indian social structure in order to
have a genuine democratic society.

The framers of the Indian Constitution were inspired by principles of social equality and political justice to
introduce adult suffrage immediately–a big step forward to protect our Indian Democracy. After
independence, India decided to have democratic political system. This system is characterised by three
elements: one, there is a high degree of autonomy; two, economic agents and religious organisations are
free from political interference; and three, competition between various orders does not endanger
integration but helps it. The rst generation of Indian leaders wanted their country to be a liberal
democracy, in which a person’s faith—or language, or caste, or gender—didn’t earn her better or worse
treatment by the state. Positive aspects of Democracy Positively, democracy seeks to maintain and assert
the below rights:
the right to free expression of opinion and of opposition and criticism of the Government of the day;
the right to change the Governments of which the people disapprove through constitutional means;
protection from arbitrary interference on the part of the authorities, primary safeguards against
arbitrary arrest and prosecution;
fundamental rights of citizens, subject to their duties to the state;
the right of minorities to be protected with equal justice under law;
equal treatment and fair play for the poor as well as the rich, for private persons as well as
Government of cials;
The right to hold unpopular or dissident beliefs.
Modern day democracy on decline Since independence, India has managed to stay on the democratic
path in a way unprecedented among states freed from colonialism during the last century. The makers of
our Constitution designed the institutions of our democracy with great care and attention to detail. They
were designed to endure and it was expected that these institutions will strengthen the democracy in
India. Recently, however, the dominance of the Hindu nationalists and the manner in which they have
ruled – has given rise to claims that India’s democracy and its minorities are in grave danger. Freedom of
expression has been curtailed; institutions of democracy are weakened and diminished; democratic
deliberation has been bypassed; attacks on religious minorities have been carried out. At a time when
politics almost everywhere is leaning dangerously towards a centralised, authoritarian, national security
state with a strong leader committed to the ideology of cultural nationalism, the values and ideas of
democracy provided by early leaders becomes important. The values and democratic principles embraced
by them are relevant not yesterday or today but forever!! Connecting the dots:
Examine the democratic principles that took a concrete shape post British India rule.
Is the future of Indian democracy secure? Critically analyze.

(TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE)

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

Note: 

Correct answers of today’s questions will be provided in next day’s DNA section. Kindly refer to it
and update your answers. 

Comments Up-voted by IASbaba are also the “correct answers”.

Q.1) Bandar Abbas, the Iranian port city is located on the Strait of Hormuz. This strait connects which
two water bodies?

1. Persian Gulf and Gulf of Aden

2. Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman
3. Red Sea and Gulf of Aden
4. Red Sea and Gulf of Oman

Q.2) Cryosphere often seen in the news is related to which of the following?
1. Inner core part of earth system consisting of radioactive materials
2. Outer atmospheric part of earth system
3. Frozen water part of the earth system
4. None of the above

Q.3) Consider the following statements about National Pension system(NPS)

1. It is being implemented by Ministry of Labour
2. Non-Resident India(NRI), OCI (Overseas Citizens of India) and PIO (Person of Indian Origin) card
holders and Hindu Undivided Family (HUFs) are eligible for opening of NPS account

Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct?

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

Q.4) Consider the following statements about Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority
(PFRDA)
1. It is a Statutory body established under Companies Act, 2013.
2. It regulates National Pension System (NPS) and other pension schemes subscribed by employees of
public and private sector of India.

Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct?

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

Q.5) Article 46 of the Constitution deals with which of the following?

1. Freedom of Speech
2. Martial Law
3. Uniform Civil Code
4. None of the above

Q.6) Shekatkar committee often seen in the news deals with which of the following?
1. Military Modernisation
2. Financial Inclusion
3. Doubling of Farmers Income
4. Improving relations with Pakistan

Q.7) Consider the following statements about GDP and Gross value Addition (GVA)
1. GVA is the sum of a country’s GDP and net of subsidies and taxes in the economy
2. GDP gives a picture of the state of economy from the producers’ side or supply side, whereas GVA
gives the picture from the consumers’ side or demand perspective

Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct?

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

ANSWERS FOR 07 JAN 2020 TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE (TYK)

1 A

2 C

3 C
 4 C

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