DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS for UPSC by KASHMIR STUDENT
Topic Covered :
1. China, U.S. in new spat over Uighur crackdown
2. Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Power project
3. Aids to Navigation Bill 2020
CHINA, U.S. IN NEW SPAT OVER UIGHUR CRACKDOWN
Why in news?
China said on Friday it will impose tit-for-tat measures after the U.S. slapped sanctions on Chinese officials for their involvement in a crackdown on Muslim minorities, raising tensions between the superpowers.
Highlights:
1. The two countries have traded barbs and sanctions on a slew of issues since President Donald Trump took office, from trade to more recent spats over the coronavirus pandemic, a security law in Hong Kong, and Chinese policies in the far west regions of Tibet and Xinjiang.
2. The latest Chinese response followed a U.S. announcement of visa bans and an assets freeze on three officials, including Chen Quanguo, the Communist Party chief in Xinjiang and architect of Beijing's hardline policies against restive minorities.
3. China has decided to impose reciprocal measures against the relevant U.S. institutions and individuals who behave badly on Xinjiang-related issues.
4. The back-and-forth over Xinjiang comes just days after the two countries imposed visa restrictions on each other over their disagreement on Tibet.
5. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday blamed the rising tensions on “McCarthy-style paranoia” in the United States.
6. McCarthy Style Paranoia :
a. McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence.
b. The term refers to U.S. senator Joseph McCarthy (R-Wisconsin) and has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting from the late 1940s through the 1950s.
Source : Hindu (Page 14, 11 Jul. 20)
REWA ULTRA MEGA SOLAR POWER PROJECT
Why in news?
The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi dedicated to the Nation the Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Power project to the Nation via video conference today.
Highlights:
1. It is Asia's largest power project.
2. The Rewa project will make the entire region a major hub for pure and clean energy in this decade.
3. PM said very soon Madhya Pradesh would be the main centre of Solar Energy in India, as such major projects are in progress in Neemuch, Shajapur, Chattarpur and Omkareshwar.
4. The biggest beneficiaries of this would be the poor, the middle class, the tribals, the farmers of Madhya Pradesh.
5. He described Solar Energy as one which is ‘Sure, Pure & Secure’. Sure because of the continuous supply of Energy from the Sun, Pure as it is environment friendly and Secure because it is a secure source for our energy needs.
Source : PIB
AIDS TO NAVIGATION BILL 2020
Why in news?
Shipping Ministry issues draft “Aids to Navigation Bill 2020” for public consultation.
Highlights:
1. The draft bill is proposed to replace the almost nine decades old Lighthouse Act, 1927, to incorporate the global best practices, technological developments and India's International obligations in the field of Aids to Marine Navigation.
2. Initiative is part of the proactive approach adopted by the Ministry of Shipping by repealing archaic colonial laws and replacing it with modern and contemporary needs of the maritime industry.
3. The draft bill provides for empowering Directorate General of Lighthouses and Lightships (DGLL) with additional power and functions such as Vessel Traffic Service, Wreck flagging, training and certification, implementation of other obligations under International Conventions, where India is a signatory.
4. It also provides for identification and development of heritage lighthouses.
5. The draft bill comprises a new schedule of offences, along with commensurate penalties for obstructing and damaging the aids to navigation, and non-compliance with directives issued by the Central Government and other bodies under the draft bill.
6. With the advent of modern technologically improved aids to maritime navigation, the role of authorities regulating and operating maritime navigation has changed drastically. Therefore the new law encompasses a major shift from lighthouses to modern aids of navigation.
Source : PIB
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