Daily Current Affairs and GK | 10 November 2020

1. Affidavit form not required for seeking claims under Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana from ESIC.

• Ministry of Labour and Employment announced that now affidavit will not be required for seeking claims for unemployment benefits under Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana of ESIC.
• The beneficiaries now can submit their claim online and can upload the documents online.
• Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana was started in 2018 to provide a part of the daily wages for a period of up to 90 days as financial assistance to those employees who have lost their jobs.
• ESIC had increased the rate of relief from 25% to 50% of the average daily earning in August.
• It was extended till June 2021 due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
• Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana:
  • It is a welfare scheme launched by the Ministry of Labour and Employment and is implemented by the Employee's State Insurance (ESI) Corporation.
  • It was started in 2018.
  • It covers Employees under Section 2(9) of the ESI Act 1948.
  • It provides financial assistance to the extent of 50% of the average per day earning.
• Employees' State Insurance Corporation:
  • It was founded in 1952.
  • It is a statutory body under the Ministry of Labour and Employment. It was set under the ESI Act 1948 for the implementation of the ESI scheme.
  • ESI scheme is a social security scheme to protect employees against financial distress.

2. Uttarakhand celebrates its formation day: 9 November

• Uttarakhand celebrated its 21^st foundation day. It was formed as the 27^th State on November 9, 2000.
• It was formed as a separate state with the northwestern parts of Uttar Pradesh.
• In 2007, it was renamed from Uttaranchal to Uttarakhand.
• It is also known as 'Land of the Gods'.
• Uttarakhand:
  • It is located in the northern part of India.
  • It shares its border with Tibet, Nepal, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
  • The Chief Minister of Uttarakhand is Trivendra Singh Rawat and Governor is Baby Rani Maurya.
  • It has 5 Lok Sabha seats and 3 Rajya Sabha seats.
  • It is home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, i.e., Valley of Flowers and Nanda Devi National Park.
  • It is famous for religious places such as Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath, Badrinath, etc.
  • Dehradun is the capital of Uttarakhand.

3. World Science Day for Peace and Development: 10 November

• World Science Day for Peace and Development is celebrated annually on 10 November.
• The first World Science Day for Peace and Development was celebrated worldwide on 10 November 2002 under UNESCO auspices.
•  The day stresses the importance of science in society, the need for engaging wider public in debates about emerging scientific issues and importance and relevance of science in our daily lives.
• World Science Day for Peace and Development aims to ensure that citizens are kept informed of developments in science.
• Theme: “Science for and with Society in dealing with the global pandemic”

4. MNRE revises solar capacity addition target under PM-KUSUM scheme.

• Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has revised solar capacity addition target under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) Scheme from 25.75 GW to 30.8 GW by 2022.
• Along with revising solar capacity addition target from 25,750 MW (25.75 GW) to 30,800 MW (30.8 GW), Central Financial Support under PM-KUSUM has been revised to ₹34,035 crore.
• Targets for all three components under PM-KUSUM scheme have been revised as given in the following table:

• PM-KUSUM scheme:
  • It was approved by Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs in February 2019.
  • It is being implemented by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).
  • PM-KUSUM scheme has three components (A, B and C):
    • Component A is about solar power plants up to 2 MW individual capacity.
    • Component B is about installation of solar-powered agricultural pumps.
    • Component C is about solarisation of agricultural pumps.

5. Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is 90% effective in Phase 3 trial.

• Pfizer and its partner BioNTech announced that from the Phase 3 trial analysis of their vaccine candidate it has been observed that it is effective in more than 90% COVID-19 cases. They also found no signs of safety concerns.
• Pfizer has become the first company to provide phase 3 trial data of a promising COVID-19 Vaccine.
• Pfizer-BioNTech candidate, BNT162b2 phase 3 trial was started on July 27 and had enrolled 43,538 participants. The analysis has evaluated 94 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in trial participants.
• Pfizer claims that protection from COVID-19 can be achieved after 28 days after the initial vaccination.
• This vaccine candidate is a single nucleoside-modified messenger RNA, which provide instruction to the human cells to activate the immune response against the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2.

(Source: US Food & Drug Administration)

6. PM Modi address the SCO summit hosted by Russia.

• The Prime Minister has led the Indian delegation in the 20^th SCO summit of heads of state.
• It will be the first SCO summit which has been held in virtual mode.
• The SCO Summit of Heads of State is the main governing body of this organization. It sets the agenda and activities of the organization in different fields.
• The Summit will adopt the Moscow Declaration and statement will be issued on 75^th Anniversary of World War II, Digital Economy, COVID-19 etc.
• Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO):
  • It is a political, economic and security alliance whose creation was announced in 2001 by leaders of six nations.
  • Currently, it has eight members as India and Pakistan joined it in June 2017.
  • The other six members are China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
  • It is headquartered in Beijing, China.

7. An office-cum-residential complex of ITAT will be inaugurated by the PM.

• Prime Minister will inaugurate an office-cum-residential complex of Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) at Cuttack.
• This newly built complex is spread over an area of 1.60 acres and has a spacious courtroom, ultra-modern record room, modern conference hall, etc.
• Income Tax Appellate Tribunal is a statutory body formed on January 25, 1941. It is also known as the ‘Mother Tribunal’.
• It is a quasi-judicial authority, which deals with the appeals against the orders of income tax authorities under Direct Taxes Acts. It functions under the jurisdiction of the High Court.
• It has started its journey with three benches, but now it has grown to 63 benches and two circuit benches. The Cuttack bench was established on May 23, 1970.
• The orders passed by ITAT are final and can only be appealed if a substantial question of law arises for determination.
• The motto of ITAT is ‘Nishpaksh Sulabh Satvar Nyay’.

8. 15^th Finance Commission submitted its report for FY 2021-22 to 2025-26.

• The 15^th Finance Commission led by N.K Singh has submitted its final report for the financial years 2021-22 to 2025-26 to the President. The report is titled ‘Finance Commission in Covid Times’.
• The Finance Commission recommended the devolution of funds between the center and state for 2021-22 to 2025-26.
• The 15^th Finance Commission has recommended in its interim report for the FY 2021 that states will be given 41% of all taxes.
• The commission recommended on vertical and horizontal tax devolution, local government grants and also looked at the matter of performance incentives for states and a special financial mechanism for defence and internal security, etc.
• The report will be tabled in Parliament.
• 15^th Finance Commission:
  • The 15^th Finance Commission was constituted on 27 November 2017.
  • The commission had already submitted its report for the financial year 2020-21 on 5 December 2019.
  • Nand Kishore Singh (N. K. Singh) is the chairman of the Fifteenth Finance Commission.
  • Ajay Narayan Jha, Prof. Anoop Singh, Dr. Ashok Lahiri and Dr. Ramesh Chand are its four other members.
• Finance Commission:
  • It is a constitutional body, which is created every 5 years under Article 280 of the Constitution of India.
  • It recommends the transfer of financial resources from the Center to the states.
  • Criteria for devolution of fund for 2020-21 by 15th Finance Commission:
    • Income distance
    • Population
    • Demographic performance
    • Forest and ecology
    • Tax effort

(Source: Economic times)

9. DRDO develops fire detection and suppression system for buses.

• A fire detection and suppression system has been developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for passenger buses. It will detect the fire in a fraction of seconds and extinguish it within a minute.
• Demonstrations were given on water mist-based FDSS for the passenger compartment and aerosol-based FDSS for an engine fire.
• It has been developed by the DRDO’s Centre for Fire Explosive and Environment Safety. It has developed this system for battle tanks, ships and submarines.
• The FDSS for passenger compartment includes a water tank of 80 litre capacity, a 6.8 kg nitrogen cylinder pressurized to 200 bar and a network of tubing with 16 number of atomizers.
• Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO):
  • It works under the Ministry of Defence.
  • It was established in 1958 when the Defence Science Organisation (DSO) was combined with the Technical Developments Establishment of Indian Army and the Directorate of Technical Development & Production.
  • Chairman: G. Sateesh Reddy
  • Headquarters: New Delhi

10. Ministry of Power notifies all licensed DISCOMs as DCs and brings them under Energy Conservation (EC) Act, 2001.

• Ministry of Power has notified all licensed Power Distribution Companies (DISCOMs) as Designated Consumers (DCs) and brought them under Energy Conservation (EC) Act, 2001.
• In September 2020, the notification was issued and all entities with distribution licence by State/Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission under Electricity Act, 2003 were notified as DCs.
• The notification was prepared in consultation with Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE). BEE is a statutory body under the Ministry of Power.
• Now, provisions of the Energy Conservation (EC) Act, 2001 will apply to them. Some provisions are given below.
  • Appointment of Energy Manager
  • Energy Accounting and Auditing
  • Identification of Energy Losses Category-wise
  • Implementation of energy conservation and efficiency measures
• Earlier, only DISCOMs having annual energy loss of 1,000 million units were considered as Designated Consumers (DCs).
• Now, the number of DISCOMs under the Energy Conservation (EC) Act, 2001, has increased from 44 to 102. Energy Accounting and Auditing will be mandatory for all of them.