Current Affairs Exam

To bolster measurement of Air Pollution in rural India, the Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur, is embarking on a $2.5 million project (19 crore) to install nearly 1,400 sensors in rural blocks of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The three-year pilot project is expected to pave the way for a national Network of air quality sensors in rural India.

Air pollution in India is largely framed as an urban blight though causes of pollution, such as burning, and reliance on diesel gensets for electricity are worsening air quality in villages too.

In 2019, the government launched the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) to achieve 20-30% reduction in particulate matter (PM) air pollution by 2024 with 2017 as the Base Year for comparison. This however is primarily aimed at 122 cities that have been categorised as Indias most polluted cities.

Under NCAP, 375.44 crore was provided to 114 cities from 2018-19 to 2020-21 and 290 crore was allocated to 82 cities for the financial year 2021-2022. The programme has an allocation of 700 crore envisaged for 2021-26. However interim analysis by independent bodies have found that theres been minimal reduction so far in PM trends under NCAP and that pollution-reduction targets remain elusive.

Spacecraft will be launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida on October 16, 2021.

This spacecraft would obtain new insights into the formation of Solar System 4.5 billion years ago.

The spacecraft has been named as Lucy. It was named after an ancient fossil which provided insights into the evolution of human species.

Mission Lucy will be launched with the objective of investigating the group of rocky bodies that are circling the Sun in two swarms- one preceding Jupiter and the other trailing behind it.

Mission Lucy will go for a 12-year journey after receiving boosts from Earths gravity. 12-year journey will be completed across eight different asteroids including one in Main Belt between Mars & Jupiter and seven Trojans. Spacecraft will fly by its target objects within 400 kilometres of their surfaces. It will use onboard instruments and large antenna to investigate the geology of target objects. It will be the first solar-powered spacecraft at a distance of 400 kms. Total cost of the mission is $981 million.

This programme will provide an opportunity to content creators, on its platform and Instagram, to learn, earn and grow their communities.

While addressing the 2021 edition of Creator Day India, Instagram Head Adam Mosseri noted that India is one of the fastest growing markets for photo sharing and short video platform.

India has become the best place for creators to grow and make a living. So, Facebook has planned to do this by developing a range of creative tools in order to democratise expression. For instance, Reels is a great example of democratised creativity. On an Average, more than 6 millionReelsare produced in India per day.

Social Media platform is also introducing monetisation tools in order to help creators earn through content.

Poetry Festival will be organised at Jain College auditorium to mark Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav and Mahatma Gandhi Jayanti.

Event will also feature a book exhibition.

It is National Academy of Letters in India. This organisation is dedicated towards promotion of literature in different languages. It was founded on March 12, 1954. Its headquarter is located in Rabindra Bhavan, Mandi House in Delhi. The organisation held national & regional workshops & seminars and provides research & travel grants to the authors. It also publishes books & journals as well as the Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature.

Reserve Bank Of India (RBI) has moved out the public sector lenderIndian Overseas Bank(IOB) from Prompt Corrective Action(PCA) framework after its financial and credit profile improved.

This decision provides lender more freedom to lend, especially to corporations and grow the Network.

IOB was placed under PCA in October 2015 because of high Net-Performing Assets (NPAs) and negative Return on Assets (RoA).

It was stopped from increasing risk-weighted assets.

Under the PCA framework, RBIimposes several business restrictions onbankswith weak financial metrics. The nature and degree of curbs are decided on the basis of threshold and depends on the financial profile of individual bank.

Union Cabinet has approved the continuation of PM POSHAN scheme in Schools, which is a Centrally Sponsored National Scheme.

PM POSHAN scheme would run for five more years. It will run from 2021-2022 to 2025-26.

Scheme has been approved with a financial outlay of 54,062 crore rupees from the Central Government.

State Government and Union Territories administrations have sanctioned an outlay of 31,733 crore rupees.

In this phase, scheme will cover around 11.80 crore children studying across 11.20 lakh schools.

Central Government will further bear an additional cost of 45,000 crore rupees to provide food grains to these children.

Total budget of the scheme is 1,30,795 crore rupees.

PM POSHAN is a revamped version of Mid-Day Meal Scheme, which stands for PM Poshan Shakti Nirman. With the new nomenclature, Centre has initiated a major political push towards child Nutrition. This scheme will cover around 24 lakh students, who are receiving pre-primary Education at government schools and government-aided schools, from the year 2022.

Right Livelihood Award 2021 was conferred to Delhi-based environmental organisation Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment (LIFE). This award is also known as Swedens alternative Nobel Prize.

LIFE has received the award for its grassroots approach to empower vulnerable communities in protecting their livelihoods and claiming their right for a clean environment.

Other awardees include:

Cameroonian Women rights activist Marthe Wandou,

Environmental activist from Russia, Vladimir Slivyak and

Indigenous rights defender from Canada, Freda Huson.

Right Livelihood Award was established by Ole von Uexkull who happens to be the executive director of Right Livelihood. The award honours and supports people in solving global problems. It comprises of a cash prize of 1 million Swedish crowns and a long-term support that highlights and expands Laureates work.

The Commission launched a new initiative on August 26, 2021 in order to reach out to new voters through sending them a customized letter alongside a voter identification card.

Highlights:

Initiative was launched by Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra and Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar.

Under the new initiative, a package would be sent to new voters which will encompass voter information for new voters alongside with a congratulatory letter except a pledge for moral voting.

Avani Lekhara won medal in womens 10m Air Rifle Standing (SH1) event

She is a 19-year-old Lekhara and created a record at Paralympics by equalling the world record of Ukraines Iryna Shchetnik.

Iryna Shchetnik had a record score of 249.6 in 2018.

Avani became the first Indian woman to win first gold medal at Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.

India has won 19 medals so far across all 11 editions of Tokyo Paralympics Games since 1960. It comprises of 5 gold, 8 silver, and 6 bronze.

The Ministry of Textile and National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) launched an India dimension survey, to do away with the size confusion. It has been titled as INDIAsize. The survey used to be formally launched on August 26, 2021.

Highlights:

This initiative was once launched with the intention of introducing a new standardised dimension chart in ready-to-wear garb zones in India.

This project used to be introduced in February 2019. However, it was delayed because of covid-19 pandemic.
New sizing chart will include a measurement identification number. It will be created by mapping, categorising and defining the physique measurement and type.

FM unveiled the 4th version of Public Sector Bank (PSB) Reforms Agenda EASE 4.0.

Highlights:

PSB reforms agenda EASE (Enhanced Access and Service Excellence) was launched primarily based on the pointers made by PSB Whole Time Directors (WTDs) and senior executives in PSB Manthan in November 2017.

It encapsulates a synergistic method to make certain prudent and smooth lending, better purchaser service, simplified and superior credit, and robust Governance and HR practices.

The Reforms Agenda is pursued thru a unique Reforms Index that enabled objective evaluation of Growth on all key areas in PSBs viz., governance, prudential lending, hazard management, technology- and data-driven Banking, and outcome-centric HR as properly as more advantageous in the wider financial ecosystem.

EASE 1.0 was launched for FY 2019 and the 2d version for FY 2020.

The fourth edition EASE four objectives similar to the agenda of customer-centric digital transformation and deeply embed digital and statistics into PSBs approaches of working.

Indian startups are now working on Software solutions to manage space debris, science & technology (S&T) and space minister Jitendra Singh said after hosting a high-level joint meeting of all science ministries and departments. He added that after the unlocking of the space sector for private players, innovative startups are coming up in a big way to explore the untapped potential of this sector.

The minister said more than 50 startups are working in the space sector and about 10 of them have received funding of over Rs 50 crore or more each. He noted that apart from applications based on NavIC (Indias system), startups are also working on software solutions for debris management in space with global ramifications.

The minister informed thatGujaratis the only state to have a S&T policy but after brainstorming sessions for the last four months, 11 more states, includingSikkim, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh, are preparing their S&T policies.

All India Mayors Council unanimously decided to request their states to implement the 74th Constitutional AmendmentBillto strengthen local self-government in their states.

All India Mayors Council, not only demanded implementation of the Amendment Bill but also alleged that some states were not adopting it because they had an apprehension that the Bill would give more rights to mayors.

TheCentrehas released 126.7 crore to various states for modernisation ofPoliceforces, construction of fortifiedpolice stationsand implementation of a host of other schemes.

Under theSecurityRelatedExpenditure(SRE) scheme, an amount of Rs 22.59 crore was released toChhattisgarh, Rs 2.63 crore to Jharkhand and Rs 14.76 crore to Odisha by the Union Home Ministry.

Further, Rs 7.5 crore was released under Special Central Assistance (SCA) scheme to Maharashtra by the home ministry, an official said.

The ministry also released Rs 8.39 crore to Jharkhand and Rs 1.61 crore to as reimbursement of claims under the Special Infrastructure Scheme (SIS) including construction of fortified police stations.

The central government further released Rs 69.215 crore to various states under the centrally-sponsored scheme for modernisation of police forces.

The reimbursement for the SRE is given to the states seriously affected by the militancy or insurgency. Under it, the expenditure incurred by the states on raising of India Reserve Battalions, Logistics provided to the central police forces, the army among others are being reimbursed.

The SCA is provided to the states as an additive to their Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan (SCSP). The main objective of SCA to SCSP is to give a thrust to the development programmes for Scheduled Castes.

Russia has announced to transfer the Iskander-M Missile System to Belarus. This missile system can use ballistic or cruise missiles, in their nuclear and conventional versions.

Iskander-M missile system is codenamed as SS-26 Stone byNATO. Russia uses the term Iskander-M to define transporter-erector launch system as well as short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) fired by it. This system can be used to fire ground-launched cruise missiles (GLCMs) viz., SSC-7 and the SSC-8. This system has been exclusively used by Russian military. It was first launched in 1996, successfully.

Iskander-M missile has a range of 500 km. It is capable of carrying a payload of up to 700 kg. It can carry conventional as well as nuclear warheads. Conventional warheads can be equipped with bunker-buster munitions, cluster bombs and electromagnetic pulse (EMP) warheads.

The newly launched aircraft carrier is most advanced and first fully domestically built naval vessel.

It was launched at a brief ceremony, at Shanghais Jiangnan Shipyard.

It is the first domestically designed and built catapult aircraft carrier.

It has a flat, straight flight deck that has been equipped with electromagnetic catapults and arresting devices.

Launch of Fujian ship was delayed by two months, because of COVID-19 lockdown of Shanghai. Spacecraft was scheduled to be launched on April 23, 2022 to mark 73rd anniversary of Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN).

Liaoning was the first aircraft carrier of China. It was a refit of Soviet-era ship commissioned in 2012. This launch was followed by indigenously built 2ndaircraft carriernamed Shandong, which was launched in 2019. Liaoning and Shandong carriers have also been named after provinces in China.