CURRENT AFFAIRS
10 JULY 2020
NATIONAL NEWS:
A) Solar energy will play big role in ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’: PM
On July 10, the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that solar energy would play a major role in achieving self-reliance in energy which is essential for an ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’. It will be a big energy medium for 21st century. Inaugurating a 750 MW solar power project in Rewa district, Madhya Pradesh, he said that we won’t be able to use solar power completely unless we have improved solar panels, improved batteries and best quality storage within the country. We need to work in this direction now. He also asserted that Solar energy would be a big medium to meet the energy needs of the 21st century.
B) 14% excess rain in India so far this monsoon.
Monsoon rainfall since June has been 14% more than what is normal for this time of the year. Till now, India has received 28.7 cm rainfall as compared to the typical rainfall of 25.2 cm. Only on nine of the 40 days of monsoon so far has rainfall been less than the daily average, according to data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD). About 40% of districts received excess rain while 27% others have seen deficient rain, having received at least 20% less rain than usual. There are 29 districts in Uttar Pradesh, 17 in Gujarat and 16 in Jammu and Kashmir that have received deficient rain. Paradoxically, Uttar Pradesh also leads in the number of districts with excess rain (35), followed by Bihar (32) and Madhya Pradesh (28). Currently, the rainfall data has been collected from 681 districts of the country by IMD.
C) It will take at least 12 months for commercial vaccine of coronavirus, say officials.
A group of government officials informed the Parliamentary Panel on Science and Technology that novel coronavirus vaccine will take at least 12 months to be commercially available and a realistic deadline for it would be some time next year. This timeline is contrary to the letter sent out by Dr. Balram Bhargava who is the Director General of Indian Council of Medical Research, who earlier said that the Covaxin trial will be ready for public health use by August 15. The ICMR later backtracked from this. The officials also indicated that when the vaccine is developed, it will first be made available to vulnerable groups before distribution for public use.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A) China, U.S. in new spat over Uighur crackdown.
On July 10, China said that it will impose tit-for-tat measures after the U.S. accuses Chinese officials for their involvement in a crackdown on Muslim minorities. This has raised tensions between the superpower countries. Both the countries have traded barbs and sanctions on a number of issues since President Donald Trump hold office, from trade to more recent clashes over the coronavirus pandemic and a security law in Hong Kong and the Chinese policies in the far west regions of Tibet and Xinjiang. The latest response from China followed a U.S. announcement of visa bans and it assets freeze on three officials against restive minorities. China has decided to impose reciprocal measures against the relevant U.S. institutions and individuals who behave badly on these issues.
B) U.S. bans Pakistan’s PIA over pilot license scandal.
European Union aviation regulators have also barred the carrier for six months. After the carrier said that nearly 150 pilots would be grounded over fake licenses, the United States has banned Pakistan International Airlines from operating chartered flights. The ban was announced by the U.S. Department of Transportation after knowing of the fact that approximately one-third of Pakistani pilots are not properly certificated in accordance with international standards. In June, the Aviation Minister of Pakistan revealed that a government review had found that around 260 of the 860 active pilots in the country hold fake licenses or they had cheated in exams. PIA at that time said that it would immediately ground about one third of its 434 pilots. This was announced some weeks after one of its plane crashed in Karachi killing 98 people due to the error of pilot.
C) IAF gets last of 5 AH-64E Apache attack helicopters from Boeing.
Boeing handed over the last five AH-64E Apache attack helicopters to the Indian Air Force (IAF) by completing the contract for 22 Apaches. The Apaches were deployed at the Leh air base as part of the forward movement of assets, amid the stand-off with China in Ladakh. Earlier in March, Boeing handed over the last five of the 15 CH-47F(I) Chinook heavy-lift helicopters to the IAF. The IAF inducted the first batch of Apaches in September 2019 and based them at Air Force Station, Pathankot, Punjab. While the last five Apaches arrived in India early this year, the handover was delayed slightly because of the global covid19 situation. India had contracted 22 Apache helicopters and 15 Chinook helicopters from Boeing through the Foreign Military Sales programme of the U.S. government in September 2015. The deal was for $3 billion.