UPSC Daily Current Affairs : 09-June-2020
Topic Covered :
Airborne Rescue Pod for Isolated Transportation (ARPIT).
India asks Nepal to use alternative steps to diffuse border row
Global economy to plunge into worst recession since WW-II: World Bank
AIRBORNE RESCUE POD FOR ISOLATED TRANSPORTATION (ARPIT).
Why in news?
The Indian Air Force has designed, developed and inducted an Airborne Rescue Pod for Isolated Transportation (ARPIT).
Highlights:
This pod will be utilised for evacuation of critical patients with infectious diseases including COVID-19 from high altitude area, isolated and remote places.
Requirement of an air evacuation system with facility to prevent spread of infectious aerosol from a COVID-19 patient during air travel was felt by IAF when COVID-19 was declared as a pandemic.
This indigenously designed system has been developed at a cost of Rs Sixty Thousand only, which is very less as compared to the imported systems costing up to Rs Sixty Lakh.
Source : PIB ( https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1630259 )
INDIA ASKS NEPAL TO USE ALTERNATIVE STEPS TO DIFFUSE BORDER ROW
Why in news?
India has conveyed that it cannot be expected to discuss the border dispute with Nepal under the overhang of a resolution in the Parliament of Nepal that proposes to amend the political map to include Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpaidhura.
Highlights:
The Parliament of Nepal is slated to take up a Constitutional amendment resolution on Tuesday after the Nepali Congress came on board to give a two-thirds majority.
Nepal has cited the meeting of Indian and Chinese army commanders, and the virtual summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian counterpart Scott Morrison, as a suggestion for a meeting to be held between the Foreign Secretaries of India and Nepal.
The Kalapani dispute has been making an appearance for the past two decades but was fanned in November last year.
India, while releasing a new political map to depict the carving of J&K into two UTs, also included the Lipu Lek-Kalapani-Limpiyadhura area which is claimed by Nepal.
It came to the fore again in May when Defence Minister Rajnath Singh digitally inaugurated a link road to Mansarovar Yatra. Singh’s tweet prominently mentioned Lipulekh which he described as “China Border” whereas Nepal claims it is a tri-junction.
Source : Tribune India ( https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/india-asks-nepal-to-use-alternative-steps-to-diffuse-border-row-96328 )
GLOBAL ECONOMY TO PLUNGE INTO WORST RECESSION SINCE WW-II: WORLD BANK
Why in news? The global economy, which has plunged into a severe contraction, will shrink by 5.2 per cent this year due to the massive shock of the coronavirus pandemic and the shutdown measures to contain it, the World Bank said on Monday.
Highlights:
The COVID-19 recession is the first since 1870 to be triggered solely by a pandemic.
The speed and depth with which it has struck, suggests the possibility of a sluggish recovery that may require policymakers to consider additional interventions
For many emerging markets and developing countries, however, effective financial support and mitigation measures are particularly hard to achieve because a substantial share of employment is in informal sectors
Economic activity among advanced economies is anticipated to shrink by seven per cent in 2020 as domestic demand and supply, trade and finance have been severely disrupted.
Emerging Markets and Developing Economies (EMDEs) are expected to shrink by 2.5 per cent this year
Per capita incomes are expected to decline by 3.6 per cent, which will tip millions of people into extreme poverty this year.
The blow is hitting hardest in countries where the pandemic has been the most severe and where there is heavy reliance on global trade, tourism, commodity exports and external financing.
Source : Economic Times ( https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/business/global-economy-to-plunge-into-worst-recession-since-ww-ii-world-bank/articleshow/76267007.cms )