TNPSC Current Affairs August 21, 2020

www.tnpsc.academy – TNPSC Current Affairs August 21, 2020 (21/08/2020)

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Topic: Latest Reports and Events, Profile of States

Swachh Survekshan 2020: MoHUA

Recently, the Swachh Survekshan 2020 report has been launched by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).

It is the fifth edition of the annual cleanliness urban survey conducted by the MoHUA. It is one of the world’s largest sanitation surveys.

Key Facts:

This year the Ministry has released rankings based on the categorisation of cities on population, instead of releasing overall rankings.

The categories based on population were introduced in 2019 for the first time but the exact groupings have been changed this year.

Major Categories and Rankings:

Cities with a population of more than 10 lakh:

Indore was ranked first, securing the rank for the fourth consecutive year, followed by Surat and Navi Mumbai.

All the National Capital Region (NCR) cities, Greater Mumbai, Bruhat Bengaluru, Amritsar, Kota, Chennai, etc. have performed poorly.

Patna with the rank 47, is at the bottom of the list.

Cities with a population of 1-10 lakh:

Chhattisgarh’s Ambikapur has been surveyed as the cleanest city in the country, followed by Mysore and New Delhi.

Bihar’s Gaya with a rank of 382, is at the bottom.

Cities with a population of less than 1 lakh:

Karad has been ranked as the cleanest followed by Sasvad and Lonavala (all three in Maharashtra).

Other Categories:

Varanasi has been ranked the cleanest among 46 Ganga towns. Jalandhar got the top rank among cantonments. New Delhi was the cleanest capital city.

Chhattisgarh was ranked the cleanest State out of those with over 100 urban local bodies (ULBs) or cities.

Jharkhand was the cleanest state with less than 100 ULBs or cities.

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Topic: International News, Places in News

Chinese Involvement in Teesta River

Bangladesh is likely to receive an almost USD 1 billion loan from China for a comprehensive management and restoration project on the Teesta river.

The Teesta river water conflict is one of the most contentious issues between India and Bangladesh and the discussion comes amidst the ongoing India-China standoff in Ladakh.

Teesta River is a tributary of the Brahmaputra (known as Jamuna in Bangladesh), flowing through India and Bangladesh.

Key Facts:

The management and restoration project is aimed at managing the river basin efficiently, controlling floods and tackling the water crisis in Bangladesh in summers.

India-Bangladesh Teesta Dispute:

Bangladesh sought a fair and equitable distribution of Teesta waters from India, on the lines of the Ganga Water Treaty 1996.

The treaty is an agreement to share surface waters at the Farakka Barrage near their mutual border.

In 2015, the Indian Prime Minister’s visit to Dhaka generated expectations to take forward the issue but it still remains unresolved.

In India, individual states have significant influence over transboundary agreements, impeding the policymaking process.

West Bengal is one of the key stakeholders of the Teesta agreement and is yet to endorse the deal.

Bangladesh-China Relations:

China is the biggest trading partner of Bangladesh and is the foremost source of imports with the trade heavily favouring China.

In 2019, the trade between the two countries was USD 18 billion.

China declared zero duty on 97% of imports from Bangladesh recently and the move has been widely welcomed in Bangladesh.

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Topic: International Events

Military Coup in Mali

Recently, Mali’s President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has resigned after soldiers had arrested him and Prime Minister Boubou Cisse in the capital, Bamako as part of a coup.

It has prompted its West African neighbours to threaten border closures and sanctions against the coup leaders.

Key Facts:

Background: The 2011 crisis in Libya led Mali along the path to chaos.

Weapons from Libya were supplied across the Sahara Desert and fuelled a separatist conflict in northern Mali. This turned into an Islamist militant offensive which prompted a coup in the capital Bamako (Mali).

 

 

Reasons: Mali has three overlapping sets of problems:

Political crisis that grew out of the disputed legislative elections of March 2020.

Economic crisis due to economic stagnation, corruption and further complications by the Covid-19 pandemic. There was dissatisfaction among the troops due to poor payments.

Security crisis due to the failure to contain terrorism and jihadists and the actions of the military against civilians.

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Topic: Profile of States, Latest Reports

Organic Farming in India

India ranks 1st in number of organic farmers and 9th in terms of area under organic farming.

Key Facts:

Indian Scenario Regarding Organic Farming

Sikkim became the first State in the world to become fully organic in 2016. North East India has traditionally been organic and the consumption of chemicals is far less than the rest of the country.

 

Similarly the tribal and island territories have been traditionally practicing organic farming.

The major organic exports from India have been flax seeds, sesame, soybean, tea, medicinal plants, rice and pulses.

There was an increase of nearly 50% in organic exports in 2018-19, touching Rs. 5151 crore.

Commencement of exports from Assam, Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland to UK, USA, Eswatini and Italy have proved the potential by increasing volumes and expanding to new destinations as the demand for health foods increases.

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Topic: Science and Technology

Chandrayaan-2 completes a year around Moon

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on August 20 said that the second lunar mission of India Chandrayaan-2 has completed one year around the Moon in the lunar orbit. According to ISRO, all the instruments of Chandrayaan-2 are performing well at present.

Key facts:

ISRO also highlighted that the fuel onboard is adequate to keep Chandrayaan-2 operational for seven more years.

The orbiter completed more than 4,400 orbits around the Moon. Although, the soft-landing attempt was not successful previous year but the orbiter was placed successfully in the lunar orbit.

The agency has also claimed that the orbiter is being maintained in 100 +/- 25 km polar orbit with periodic orbit maintenance (OM) maneuvers.

Chandrayaan-2 was launched to enhance the knowledge about the moon through a detailed study of its surface chemical composition, topography, thermo-physical characteristics, mineralogy, and atmosphere.