Daily Current Affairs : 19-12-2020

1.Constitutional Right to protest 

• Supreme Court said farmers have a constitutional right to continue with their"absolutely perfect•protest as long as their dissent against the three controversial agricultural laws did not slip into violence.
• The right to protest peacefully Is enshrined In the Indian Constitution-Article 19(1)(a) guarantees the freedom of speech and expression.
• It includes the Right to Demonstration or Picketing but not the right to strike.
• Article 19(1)(b)assures citizens the right to assemble peaceably and without arms.

Source: The Hindu

2.Government plans $60-bn investment to bolster gas infrastructure

• It envisages creating gas Infrastructure till 2024, including for pipelines, LNG (liquefied natural gas)terminals, and CGD (city gas distribution) networks.
• Gas' share in the energy mix is expected to rise to 15% by 2030. Currently, gas accounts for 6% of the country's total energy mix.
• In recent years demand for natural gas in India has increased significantly due to
• its higher availability,
• development of transmission and distribution infrastructure,
• environment-friendly characteristics of natural gas as a fuel.

Steps taken

• Natural Gas Marketing Reforms were announced to increase domestic production of natural gas and to bring uniformity in the market price discovery of gas.
• Connected eastern and north-eastern parts with the gas grid by developing the Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga project and the North East Gas Grid project.
• Coverage of CGD projects is being expanded to 232 geographical areas spread over 400 districts, with the potential to cover about 53% of the country's geography and 70% of the population.
• India's first automated national-level gas trading platform was launched to promote and sustain an efficient and robust gas market and foster gas trading in the country.
• Adoption of clean mobility solutions with greater use of LNG as a transportation fuel.

Source: The Hindu

3.International Union for Conservation of Nature 

• The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species.
• It uses a set of quantitative criteria to evaluate the extinction risk of the species included in the Global Species Programme of the IUCN.

Updates

• An additional 31 species are extinct In the wild including
• 15 freshwater fish species endemic to Lake Lanao and its outlet in the Philippines
• Lost Shark (listed as critically endangered I possibly extinct)
• Three  Macadamia  species of protea  (a genus of South  African  flowering plants) family
• There are now 112,432 species on the IUCN Red list and nearly 1/3'd (30,178) of species are threatened with extinction.
• There have been no confirmed sightings of the Jerdon's Courser (CR) since 2009.
• Himalayan Quall(CR) was last spotted in 2010 however it may still be extant, with an estimated year of extinction of 2023.
• All five freshwater dolphin species • Ganga, Amazon, Indus, Irrawaddy, and Tucuxl - are threatened with extinction.

Source: The Hindu

4.Cyber Crime Prevention against Women and Children Scheme

• Jharkhand government has launched the Centrally Sponsored Scheme CCPW. The scheme is co-funded by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• It aims to protect women and children from growing cybercrimes.
• Key components of the CCPWC Include
• One national-level cyber forensic laboratory
• Training of Police officers, judges & prosecutor
• Cybercrime awareness activities
• Research& Development

Source: The Hindu

5.Human Freedom Index

• It was published by American think tank CatoInstitute and FraserInstitute In Canada.
• It takes into account 76 Indicators of personal, civil, and economic freedoms to rank 162 countries from 2008 to 2018.
• India ranked 111"', ahead of China (129), Bangladesh (139), and Pakistan (140).
• New Zealand was rankedoneInthe Index.

Source: The Hindu

6.CORPAT exercise

• Recently,35th India - Indonesia Coordinated Patrol (IND-INDO CORPAT) is being held between the Indian Navy & Indonesian Navy.

Source: The Hindu

7.CMS-01

• Recently, ISRO launched the country's 42nd communication satellite CMS-01.
• CMS-01 is envisaged to provide services in the Extended-( Band of the frequency spectrum whose coverage will Include the Indian mainland, Andaman-Nicobar, and Lakshadweep islands.
• The satellite will be the first in a new series of communication satellites by Indian after the GSAT and INSAT series.

Source: The Hindu

8.Yogasana as a competitive sport 

• Ministry of AYUSH and Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports announced the formal recognition of Yogasana as a competitive sport.
• It will ensure new technologies and new strategies being Inducted Into the disciplines to benefit athletes and officials.
• It will encourage yoga, spread awareness about its benefits, and help improve the physical and mental wellbeing of the people.
• Yogasana Is an Integral and Important component of Yoga.
• Proposed events Include Traditional Yogasana, Artistic Yogasana (Single). Artistic Yogasana (Pair), Rhythmic Yogasana (Pair), etc.

Source: The Hindu

9.2020 Global Status Report for Building and Construction

• Reports released by GlobalAlliance for Bulldlngs and Construct on.

Key highlights:

•  The building sector emitted more than a third of global energy-related carbon dioxide (C02)in 2019.
• C02 emissions increased due to a high proportion of fossil fuels used for power generation, combined with higher activity levels in regions where electricity remains carbon-intensive.
• In India, Energy Conservation Building Code caters to commercial buildings. In2018,a separate energy code for residential buildings, Eco-Niwas Samhita, was launched.

Source: The Hindu

10.Dakpay

• It is a digital payment app launched by India Post Payments Bank (IPPB).
•  The app can be used for digital financial and assisted banking services like domestic Money Transfers, Scan QR codes, etc..
• IPPB Is a public sector company under the department of posts, ministry of communication where the Indian government holds 100% equity.
• It Is governed by the Reserve Bank of India. It provides payment services by a postal network of India Post spread across the nation.

Source: The Hindu

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