Current Affairs 19 October 2020 – IAS Current Affairs
Current Affairs 19 October 2020 2020 focuses on Prelims-Mains perspective. Major events are :
- Israel-Bahrain Establish Diplomatic Relations
- Prelims Facts
- Ghar Tak Fibre
- Skinks of India
- SLINEX 2020
Israel-Bahrain Establish Diplomatic Relations
Why in News ?
Israel and Bahrain officially establish diplomatic relationsat a ceremony in Manama as the wealthy Gulf region continues to open up to the Jewish state.
Key Facts
- The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain became only the third and fourth Arab states to agree to normalise ties with Israel, following Israel’s 1979 peace deal with Egypt and a 1994 pact with Jordan.
- Bahrain and Israel will sign a joint communique on the establishment of diplomatic, peaceful and friendly relations, as well as a number of memorandums of understanding in areas of mutual benefit.
- Israeli and Bahraini officials held talks for several hours and inked eight memorandums of understanding (MOU) on visas, trade, agriculture, investments, direct flights, finance and investments.
- Diplomatic note with a formal request for opening an Israeli embassy in Manama.
Impact over India
- This historic agreement also brings opportunities for India, which enjoys strong bilateral relations with these developed and thriving economies.
- India will benefit greatly by expanding its cooperation in many areas including health care, energy, agriculture, cyber security, regional security, technology, water and more.
- Israel and India have also been cooperating on joint research and development for rapid testing of Covid-19, as well as new technologies to combat the pandemic.
- India has cultivated lucrative economic links with the UAE and other Gulf countries in fields of energy, IT, infrastructure investment, agricultural trade, etc.
- Advantage of India in manufacturing harmonising with the great vision of India’s of Making in India, for India, and for the world.
- As economic opportunities in the region arise, they will also expand beyond the immediate region to benefit India and Indian Diaspora.
- Besides India has long maintained its position in favour of a mutually acceptable two-state solution for the Israel-Palestine dispute.
Source : The Hindu
GS II : Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora
Current Affairs Compilation : 19 October 2020
Prelims Facts 19 October 2020
Ghar Tak Fibre
Why in News ?
The government’s ambitious ‘Ghar Tak Fibre’ scheme which slow start in poll-bound Bihar, the first state that aims to connect all its 45,945 villages by March 31.
Ghar Tak Fibre
- Aims to connect all the villages with high-speed internet.
- Bihar has to provide at least five fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) connections per village, while there should also be at least one WiFi hotspot per village.
- All villages in the country would be connected to the internet over the next 1,000 days,
- The project is now likely to be completed only by 2024.
Source : Indian Express
Skinks of India
Why in News ?
A recent publication by the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) reveals that India is home to 62 species of skinks and says about 57% of all the skinks found in India (33 species) are endemic.
Key Facts
- Skinks are highly alert, agile and fast moving and actively forage for a variety of insects and small invertebrates.
- The reduced limbs of certain skink species or the complete lack of them make their slithering movements resemble those of snakes.
- Publication is a result of four years of work and study of over 4,000 specimens in all 16 regional centres of ZSI and also at the Bombay Natural History Society, Indian Institute of Science, Wildlife Institute of India, and the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology & Natural History.
- It also makes an attempt to ‘redescribe’ all the 62 species with their taxonomic identification keys, distributional maps, habits, habitat and breeding biology.
- The Western Ghats are home to 24 species of which 18 are endemic to the region. The Deccan Peninsular region is home to 19 species of which 13 are endemic.
- There are records of 14 skink species from the northeast of which two species are endemic.
- With 1,602 species of skinks across the world, making it the largest family of lizards, their occurrence in India is less than 4 % of the global diversity.
Source : The Hindu
SLINEX 2020
Why in News ?
The Eighth Edition of annual Indian Navy (IN) – Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) bilateral maritime exercise SLINEX-20 is scheduled off Trincomalee, Sri Lanka from 19 to 21 October 2020.
About SLINEX 2020
- Indian Navy (IN) – Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) bilateral maritime exercise.
- Aims to enhance inter-operability, improve mutual understanding and exchange best practices and procedures for multi-faceted maritime operations between both navies.
- In addition, the exercise will also showcase capabilities of our indigenously constructed naval ships and aircraft.
- Surface and anti-air exercises including weapon firing, seamanship evolutions, manoeuvres and cross deck flying operations are planned during the exercise, which will further enhance the high degree of inter-operability already established between the two friendly navies.
- SLINEX series of exercise exemplifies the deep engagement between India and Sri Lanka which has strengthened mutual cooperation in the maritime domain.
Source : PIB
Current Affairs 19 October 2020 : Our major Sources for the Current Affairs are The Hindu, Indian Express, PIB, Down To Earth etc. For more queries and mentor-ship please contact us.