{"id":57161,"date":"2020-03-14T21:00:39","date_gmt":"2020-03-14T15:30:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=57161"},"modified":"2020-03-14T22:25:09","modified_gmt":"2020-03-14T16:55:09","slug":"9-pm-current-affairs-brief-march-14th-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/9-pm-current-affairs-brief-march-14th-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"9 PM Current Affairs Brief \u2013 March 14th, 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/spacenews.com\/exomars-rover-mission-delayed-to-late-2022\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ExoMars mission<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>News: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The launch of ExoMars mission has been postponed until 2022 as the Rosalind Franklin rover will not be ready in time for the scheduled launch in 2020.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Facts:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>About the ExoMars Programme<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ExoMars program (Exobiology on Mars) is a series of missions designed to understand if life ever existed on Mars.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is being undertaken by the European Space Agency.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It comprises two missions: one consisting of the Trace Gas Orbiter plus an Entry, Descent and landing demonstrator Module (EDM), known as Schiaparelli, launched in 2016, and the other, featuring Rosalind Franklin rover, with a launch date of 2022.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Both missions are carried out in cooperation with Roscosmos.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\":h4.ma\" class=\"Mu SP\" title=\"March 14, 2020 at 12:24:19 PM UTC+5:30\" data-tooltip=\"March 14, 2020 at 12:24:19 PM UTC+5:30\"><span id=\":h4.co\" class=\"tL8wMe EMoHub\" dir=\"ltr\">[read more]<\/span><\/div>\n<div id=\":im.ma\" class=\"Mu SP\" data-tooltip=\"March 14, 2020 at 12:24:28 PM UTC+5:30\"><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/newsonair.com\/Main-News-Details.aspx?id=382882\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Mineral Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>News<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Parliament gave its approval to the Mineral Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Facts:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>About Mineral Laws (Amendment) Bill:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It amends the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (MMDR Act) and the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015 (CMSP Act).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Key Features:<\/b><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Currently, companies acquiring Schedule II and Schedule III coal mines through auctions can use the coal produced only for specific end-uses such as power generation and steel production. The bill allows companies to carry on coal mining operation for own consumption, sale or for any other purposes, as may be specified by the central government.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It states that the companies need not possess any prior coal mining experience in India in order to participate in the auction of coal and lignite blocks.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Currently, separate licenses are provided for prospecting and mining of coal and lignite called prospecting license and mining lease respectively. The bill provides for a composite type of license called prospecting license-cum-mining lease.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The bill provides that prior approval of the central government will not be required granting reconnaissance permit, prospecting license, or mining lease for coal and lignite in certain cases such as- a) where the allocation has been done by the central government, and b) the mining block has been reserved to conserve a mineral.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><b>Additional Information:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The MMDR Act regulates the overall mining sector in India.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The CMSP Act provides for the auction and allocation of mines whose allocation was cancelled by the Supreme Court in 2014.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/newsonair.nic.in\/Main-News-Details.aspx?id=382924\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">POCSO RULES, 2020<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>News: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Centre has notified the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Rules, 2020 which enables the implementation of recent amendments to the Act.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Facts:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Rules, 2020<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The rules state that any person who has received any pornographic material involving a child or any information regarding such pornographic material shall report the contents to the Special Juvenile Police Unit (SJPU) or police, or the cybercrime portal.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It empowers the Special Court to pass an order for interim compensation to meet the needs of the child for relief or rehabilitation at any stage after registration of the First Information Report.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the State Governments have been asked to formulate a child protection policy based on the principle of zero-tolerance to violence against children.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Centre and State Governments have been asked to prepare age-appropriate educational material and curriculum for children, informing them about various aspects of personal safety.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It states that any institution housing children or coming in regular contact with children, including schools, cr\u00e8ches, sports academies or any other facility for children must ensure a police verification and background check on a periodic basis of every staff.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Additional Information:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>POCSO Act:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was enacted in 2012. It provides a robust legal framework for the protection of children from offences of sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography while safeguarding the interests of children at every stage of the judicial process.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/indusdictum.com\/2020\/03\/07\/80l-women-entrepreneurs-in-msme-sector-38-increase-under-pmegp-minister-gadkari\/\"><b>MSME Sambandh and Udyam Sakhi Portal<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>News: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Union minister for Micro, Small &amp; Medium Enterprises(MSME) has urged all the female entrepreneurs to take maximum benefits from the MSME Sambandh and Udyam Sakhi Portal.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Facts:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>About MSME Sambandh:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The portal aims to to help in monitoring the implementation of public procurement policy for micro and small enterprises.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>About Udyam Sakhi:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is an initiative of the Ministry of Micro,Small &amp; Medium Enterprises (MSME).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It aims to encourage women entrepreneurs by creating business models revolving around low-cost products and services to resolve social inequities.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Additional information:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Other Portals related to MSME:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>MSME Samadhan<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: It empowers micro and small entrepreneurs across the country to directly register their cases relating to delayed payments.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>MSME Sampark: <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is a digital platform wherein jobseekers (passed out trainees\/students of MSME Technology Centres) and recruiters get connected.<\/span><\/b><\/li>\n<li><b>Udyami Mitra Portal<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: It was launched by Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) to improve the accessibility of credit and handholding services to MSMEs.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/explained-why-there-is-only-one-white-giraffe-left-in-the-world-6309643\/\"><b>Explained: Status of White Giraffe<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>News: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recently, Poachers have killed two extremely rare white giraffes in northeast Kenya leaving just one such animal in the world.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Facts:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>About Giraffe:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Giraffes are most often found in savanna\/woodland habitats and range widely throughout Africa.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">IUCN Status: Vulnerable<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CITES: Appendix II<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Threats:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Habitat loss, civil unrest, poaching and ecological issues.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Note: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The white appearance of the giraffe is due to leucism, a genetic condition that causes skin cells to have no pigmentation. It is different from albinism where no melanin is produced at all.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/home\/environment\/flora-fauna\/tiny-dino-skull-found-preserved-in-amber\/articleshow\/74606584.cms\"><b>Oculudentavis khaungraae<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>News: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recently, Scientists have identified a fossilised skull of a flying dinosaur named Oculudentavis khaungrae which may be the smallest Dinosaur yet discovered.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Facts:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>About:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was discovered in a\u00a0 99-million-year-old amber in northern Myanmar.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Skull is only 7.1 mm in length which indicates the dinosaur was similar in size than the bee hummingbird, the smallest living bird.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The fossil is said to be from the Mesozoic era which is about 250 million to 65 million years ago.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/pyramid-of-djoser-reopened-why-the-first-pyramid-ever-built-is-special-6307196\/\"><b>Pyramid of Djoser<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>News: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recently, Egypt reopened the Pyramid of Djoser, the first pyramid ever built after a 14-year restoration.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Facts:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>About the Pyramid of Djoser:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The structure is 4,700 year old, constructed during the era of Pharaoh Djoser, the second king of Ancient Egypt\u2019s Third Dynasty (2650 BC\u2013 2575 BC).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is believed to have been designed by Imhotep,described by some as the first architect of the world.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is a UNESCO world heritage site.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/pib.gov.in\/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1606257\"><b>Bhoomi Rashi Portal<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>News: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Union Minister for Road Transport &amp; Highways has said that Bhoomi Rashi Portal has expedited the process of land acquisition for National Highways by making it error-free &amp; more transparent.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Facts:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>About the Portal:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Launched in 2018 by the Ministry of Road Transport &amp; Highways with the help of National informatics Centre(NIC).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It acts as a single point platform for online processing of land acquisition projects to accelerate highway infrastructure development in India.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The portal has been integrated with the Public Financial Management System (PFMS) for depositing the compensation in the account of affected\/ interested persons on a real-time basis.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Additional information:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>About PFMS:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is a web-based online software application developed and implemented by the Office of Controller General of Accounts(CGA).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Aim: <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To facilitate a sound Public Financial Management System for the Government of India(GoI) by establishing an efficient fund flow system as well as a payment cum accounting network.<\/span><\/b><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Its coverage includes a) Central Sector and Centrally Sponsored Schemes b) Direct Benefit transfer among others.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/pib.gov.in\/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1606249\"><b>National Biopharma Mission<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>News: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Union Minister of Science &amp; Technology has informed Lok Sabha about the National Biopharma Mission.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Facts:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>About the National Biopharma Mission:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The National Biopharma Mission(NBM) is an industry-academia collaborative mission for accelerating biopharmaceutical development in the country.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was launched in 2017 by the Department of Biotechnology(DBT) with 50% co-funding by World Bank loan.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Implementation:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Biotechnology Research Assistance Council(BIRAC)-a Public Sector Undertaking of DBT.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Under this Mission, Government has launched Innovate in India(i3) programme to create an enabling ecosystem to promote entrepreneurship and indigenous manufacturing in the biopharma sector.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindubusinessline.com\/news\/masks-sanitisers-put-under-essential-commodities-act\/article31062832.ece\"><b>Essential Commodities Act,1955<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>News: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Centre has brought masks and hand sanitisers under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 to make sure that these products help in preventing the spread of Covid-19 infection.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Facts:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>About the Act:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Essential Commodities Act,1955 aims to ensure smooth and easy availability of essential items to consumers.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Under the act, the Government regulates the production, supply and distribution of certain commodities it declares \u2018essential\u2019 in order to make them available to consumers at fair prices.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The list of items under the Act includes drugs, fertilisers, pulses and edible oils and petroleum and petroleum products.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Centre can include new commodities as and when the need arises and take them off the list once the situation improves.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The State Governments are the implementing agencies to implement the EC Act,1955 along with the Prevention of Black marketing &amp; Maintenance of Supplies of Essential Commodities Act,1980.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/pib.gov.in\/newsite\/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=200197\"><b>Cabinet approves\u201cRemission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP)\u201d Scheme<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>News: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Union Cabinet has given its approval for introducing the Scheme for Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products(RoDTEP).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Facts:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>About the Scheme:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Aim: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To reimburse taxes and duties paid by exporters such as value-added tax, coal cess, transportation cost among others which are not getting exempted or refunded under any other existing mechanism.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It will replace the Merchandise Export from India Scheme (MEIS) that was found to violate the World Trade Organization rules as it was export-focused.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Additional information:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>About Merchandise Exports From India Scheme(MEIS):<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">MEIS was introduced in the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2015-20.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Objective: <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">offset infrastructural inefficiencies and associated costs involved in exporting goods which are manufactured in India including products manufactured by the MSME Sector.<\/span><\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>[\/read]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ExoMars mission News: The launch of ExoMars mission has been postponed until 2022 as the Rosalind Franklin rover will not be ready in time for the scheduled launch in 2020. Facts: About the ExoMars Programme ExoMars program (Exobiology on Mars) is a series of missions designed to understand if life ever existed on Mars.\u00a0 It&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/9-pm-current-affairs-brief-march-14th-2020\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">9 PM Current Affairs Brief \u2013 March 14th, 2020<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":49370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-9-pm-brief","category-public","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/7-PM.png?fit=1000%2C500&ssl=1","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1700459018},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57161\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}