GS 2
Category: GOVERNANCE
- 1.4 lakh families reach MGNREGA’s annual work limit
Why in news
- At least 1.4 lakh poor rural households have already completed their quota of 100 days of work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
Issue:
- Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Having completed the quota of 100 days of work, in the first three months of the year, they will not be eligible for further benefits under the scheme for the rest of the year.
- • While the construction sector, which usually absorbs a large number of workers, has also collapsed, the demand for MGNREGA work has been increasing.
Way forward:
- The scheme contains a provision for districts affected by natural disasters to request an expansion of the scheme to allow for 150 days of work per household. Given that COVID-19 was declared a national disaster, activists have demanded that this provision be implemented immediately and increase the limit to at least 200 days per household and that the limit should be imposed per adult individual rather than per household.
Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
2.U.K. imposes new human rights sanctions
Why in news
Britain has announced economic sanctions against individuals and organisations from Russia, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar and North Korea.( to punish human rights offenders)
More Information
- Britain had previously imposed sanctions as part of the European Union or under the auspices of the United Nations.
- Since leaving the EU in January 2020, it has implemented its own version of the U.S.’s Magnitsky Act. This allows authorities to ban or seize assets of individuals guilty of human rights abuses.
- The U.K. law authorises the British government to prevent sanctioned individuals from entering the country, channeling money through British banks, or profiting from the U.K. economy.
Sanctions:
- The sanctions include 49 individuals and organizations: Saudi intelligence officials. Russian authorities implicated in the death of Sergei Magnitsky, Commander-in-chief of the Myanmar armed forces, and Myanmar army commander.
- North Korean organisations: the Ministry of State Security Bureau and the Ministry of People’s Security Correctional Bureau, sanctioned for running prison camps in the authoritarian state.
Category: HEALTH
3.Chinese region reports bubonic plague case
Why in news
- A herdsman in China’s northern Inner Mongolia region has been confirmed to have the bubonic plague.
More Information
- According to China’s National Health Commission, at least five people have died from it since 2014. The highly-contagious plague is rare in China and can be treated.
Bubonic Plague:
- Bubonic Plague first appeared in the 14th century and surfaced for a second time in London in 1665 and killed about 20% of its population. The outbreak tapered off in 1666.
- The bubonic plague is caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis. It can spread through contact with infected fleas.
GS 3
Category: SECURITY
4.Opium seizures: India in top five list
Why in news
- Findings of the World Drug Report 2020.
More Information :
- The global area under opium poppy cultivation declined for the second year in a row in 2019. Despite the decline in cultivation, opium production remained stable in 2019, with higher yields reported in the main opium production areas.
- Globally, 47 countries reported opium seizures, 30 countries reported morphine seizures and 103 countries reported heroin seizures in 2018. o It suggests that trafficking in heroin continues to be more widespread in geographical terms than trafficking in opium or morphine.
- Quantities of seized opiates remained concentrated in Asia, notably in south-west Asia (70%). o Most opiates seized were reported in or close to the main opium production areas.
- Asia, which is host to more than 90% of global illicit opium production and the world’s largest consumption market for opiates, accounted for almost 80% of all opiates seized worldwide in 2018.
- Outside Asia, the largest total quantity of heroin and morphine was seized in Europe.
Note:
- World Drug Report is published by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
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