Daily Current Affairs and GK | 1 August 2023

Topic: National News

1. Government released a draft national cruise tourism policy.

• A draft policy for national cruise tourism has been released by the government. It proposed to set up a national-level board to promote cruise tourism.
• The government will engage with stakeholders and conduct familiarization trips and support local culture.
• Additionally, it also proposed to set up an online marketplace for cruise bookings and reservations.
• The Ministry of Tourism will play a key role in advocating reform for facilitating ease of doing business.
• The government has identified 7500 kilometres, 12 major ports and 200 minor ports for promoting cruise tourism.
• The cruise tourism market is currently untapped, it represents only around 1% of the global market.
• The Ministry of Tourism in association with the Ministry of Shipping, Ports, and Waterways will take part in various international events to showcase India’s cruise tourism offering.
• The government will also develop a national inventory of specialized agents and destination management specialists for supporting the cruise tourism value chain.
• A facilitation desk will be also established to assist tours and travel partners involved in cruise tourism.

Topic: Summits/Conferences/Meetings

2. G-20 EMPOWER Summit started in Gandhinagar on 01 August 2023.

• Union Minister for Women and Child Development, Smriti Irani inaugurated the summit.
• The theme of the summit is Women-Led Development: Ensuring sustainable, inclusive, and equitable global economic growth.
• Smriti Irani will launch the G20 EMPOWER Digital Inclusion Platform at the inaugural session of the Summit.
• She will also launch the Best Practices Playbook. The inaugural session will also see the adoption of the G20 EMPOWER Communique.
• Many delegates including global experts, policymakers and stakeholders from G20 Countries, invited countries and international organizations will participate in the meeting.
• G20 Alliance for Empowerment and Progress of Women’s Economic Progression is a private sector-led initiative under the Sherpa Track of G20.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Awards and Prizes

3. The movie Champaran Mutton reaches the semi-finals of the Oscars.

• The movie has reached the semifinals for the Students Academy Awards category. It is India’s only film in the race for the award.
• It is produced by a pupil of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune.
• Bihar's Ranjan Umakrishnan is the Director of the movie Champaran Mutton. It has been made in the Bajjika dialect.
• It is the common language of the areas of Vaishali, Muzaffarpur, and Begusarai.
• Its main actors are Chandan Kumar & Falak Khan. They also hail from Bihar.
• The story is about a rural family who is economically devastated by Covid 19 pandemic.
• Any Indian film has reached the race of awards in this category after 40 years. Vidhu Binod Chopra had previously achieved this.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: State News/Assam

4. Lok Sabha Speaker, Om Birla, inaugurated the new building of the Assam Legislative Assembly.

• Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was also present on the occasion.
• The new building is equipped with the facilities of e-Vidhan, audio-visual and information technology.
• It has office chambers for Speaker, Deputy Speaker, Chief Minister, other ministers, MLAs, conference hall, meeting halls etc.
• Its rooms are designed using the rich and diverse art forms of Assam.
• The CM said Assam Legislative Assembly has a rich history.
• On the basis of demands raised by Gopinath Bordoloi in the Assam Legislative Assembly, a decision was taken to establish the Gauhati High Court.
• Assam Legislative Assembly:
  • It is unicameral. It comprises 126 Members of Legislative Assembly. It is located in Dispur. 
  • Biswajit Daimary is the Speaker of the 15th Assam Legislative Assembly.

Topic: National News

5. The guidelines issued by University Grants Commission (UGC) on safe environments for women in institutions.

• The "Guidelines have been developed on basic facilities for a safe, secure environment for Women and Women Cell (for sensitization, policy implementation, monitoring, and grievance redressal) in Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs)."
• The guideline will provide a safe, secure, and violence-free environment to all the students, particularly the women students.
• Under the provision of Section 4 of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, all HEIs have been mandated to have Internal Complaints Committee (ICC).
• Advisories have been issued from time to time to sensitize the issue relating to the maintenance of a safe working environment for women employees as per the Act.
• Several initiatives have been taken to improve the safety of all women, including students and staff, and to provide a healthy and safe environment for them on the HEI campus.
• UGC has notified UGC (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal of Sexual Harassment of Women Employees and Students in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2015.
• This regulation is statutory in nature, and binding on Universities and Colleges.
• A toll-free number 1800-111-656 has been set up for the registration of complaints related to the sexual harassment of women.
• All Universities/Colleges have been directed to submit the data of annual returns on cases of sexual harassment.
• They have to constitute an Internal Complaint Committee and fill out an online compliance of Gender Audit at the SAKSHAM web portal.

Topic: MoUs and Agreements

6. An MoU signed between Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and Center for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) on 31 July.

• This MoU has been signed to establish the mechanism of technical and institutional cooperation in telecommunications.
• The MoU has been signed by Shri Anil Kumar Bhardwaj, DG (TRAI CSR), and Shri Rajeev Kumar, Registrar, C-DoT.
• TRAI Center of Studies and Research (TRAI CSR) has been established as a unit of TRAI to conceptualize, coordinate and enable technical studies in the Telecom and Broadcasting sectors.
• Its vision is to enable technology-led development in the country by coordinating cross-sector initiatives and facilitating knowledge sharing.
• TRAI CSR and C-DOT have agreed to set up a mechanism for technical and institutional cooperation in the telecom sector with a view to contributing to its development.
• This MoU is a significant step towards collaboration and knowledge sharing and fosters an environment for regulatory practices, and regulatory gap studies.

Topic: International News

7. Myanmar Junta has extended the state of emergency by 6 more months.

• Myanmar's National Defence and Security Council (NDSC) agreed to extend the state of emergency by six months.
• This step is expected to delay the elections which Junta had pledged to hold by August 2023.
• The decision to extend the state of emergency was announced by acting president Myint Swe.
• The state of emergency was announced in February 2021 in Myanmar.
• According to Myanmar’s constitution, an emergency can be announced for one year in the beginning and can usually be extended for a maximum of two half-year terms at the discretion of NDSC.
• However, in January 2023, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing announced the emergency for the third time. At that time, Junta violated the constitution for the first time.
• This is the second time that the Junta has breached the Constitution regarding the state of emergency.
• A military junta is a government that is led by a committee of military leaders. The term junta means "meeting" or "committee".
• A junta frequently comes to power as a result of a coup, which is an attempt to unseat the incumbent leader.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: State News/Uttar Pradesh

8. ‘Chief Minister’s Command Centre’ was inaugurated by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on 30 July 2023.

• The ‘CM Dashboard’ has also been inaugurated by UP CM Yogi Adityanath.
• The CM described them as effective steps for timely solutions to the problems of the common people.
• With the Command Centre and Dashboard, the implementation of government schemes will be evaluated through monthly rankings and grades.
• The Command Centre and Dashboard will also be used for evaluating the performance of officials working in the police service, municipal corporations, and development authorities through monthly rankings and grades.
• A Data Quality Index has been developed to make sure the quality of departmental data. A performance index has also been developed.

Topic: Indian Economy

9. Central government’s fiscal deficit reached 25.3% of the annual target.

• In the first quarter of the current financial year 2023-24, the central government’s fiscal deficit has reached 25.3 per cent or Rs 4.5 lakh crore.
• The fiscal deficit in the corresponding period of the last year was 21.2 per cent of the budget estimates.
• The Fiscal deficit for April-June 2023 has increased due to a rise in capital expenditure and accelerated tax devolution to states.
• According to the controller general of accounts (CGA) data, the total non-tax revenue for the first three months of 2023 was Rs 1,54,968 crore or 51.4 per cent of the budget estimates.
• Dividends and profits made up 105 per cent of the non-tax revenue.
• The tax revenue for the April-June 2023 period was Rs 4,33,620 or 18.6 per cent of the budget estimates. Last year, it was 26.1 per cent of the budget estimates.
• The government has released Rs 3.09 lakh crore in tax devolution to states till July.
• Of the total expenditure, Rs 7.72 lakh crore was done on the revenue account and Rs 2.78 lakh crore on the capital account.
• The government is aiming to bring down the fiscal deficit to 5.9 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023-24.
• A fiscal deficit is the difference between the government's expenditure and revenue. It was 6.4 per cent of the GDP in 2022-23.

Topic: Environment and Ecology

10. First-ever Center for Species Survival in South Asia will be set up in India.

• IUCN Species Survival Commission in association with the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) will set up the first-ever Center for Species Survival in South Asia.
• An MoU has been signed in this regard between Prof. Jon Paul Rodríguez, Chair—IUCN SSC and Vivek Menon, Executive Director, Wildlife Trust of India.
• It will be the 10th Centre for Species Survival in the world and the first of its kind in South Asia.
• This collaborative effort aims to enhance conservation efforts by wildlife experts and specialist groups and safeguard the rich biodiversity of India.
• This centre will act as a bridge between national and international efforts to save species.
• It will also help in assessing species status by using the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and will increase the impact of species recovery activities across the country.
• Numerous endangered species are found in India. India has 92,037 species of fauna, of which insects alone include 61,375 species.

Topic: Indian Economy

11. India's per capita income will increase by about 70% to US$4,000 by FY2030.

• India's per capita income is expected to grow by nearly 70% to US$4,000 by FY2030 from US$2,450 in FY2023.
• This income growth will help India to become a middle-income economy with a GDP of US$6 trillion.
• As per the report, the key growth factor will be external trade which could almost double from US$ 1.2 trillion in FY2023 to US$ 2.1 trillion by 2030.
• The second biggest growth factor will be household consumption which is seen jumping to USD 3.4 trillion by fiscal 2030 from USD 2.1 trillion in fiscal 2023.
• Household consumption now accounts for 57% of GDP.
• The report noted that nine states with a per capita income of US$4,000 are rising to upper middle-income country status.
• Currently, Telangana leads the league table with a per capita income of Rs 2,75,443 or US$3,360 in FY 2023, followed by Karnataka (Rs 2,65,623), and Tamil Nadu (Rs 2,41,131).
• But the Standard Chartered Bank report sees Gujarat as the leader by FY2030, followed by Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Haryana, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh.
• Of these, Telangana, Delhi, Karnataka, Haryana, Gujarat, and Andhra Pradesh together account for 20% of the national GDP today and will have a per capita GDP of US$6,000 by fiscal year 2030.
• On the other hand, the large states of UP and Bihar, which account for 25% of the total population, will have per capita incomes of less than US$2,000 even in FY2030, which will be still twice their FY2020 levels.

Topic: Sports

12. Indian women's hockey team won in the 100th Anniversary Spanish Hockey Federation International Tournament 2023.

• On July 30, India won the three-nation Torneo del Centenario 2023 tournament in women's hockey by defeating hosts Spain 3-0 in Teresa.
• The tournament was organized to mark the 100th anniversary of the Spanish Hockey Federation.
• Vandana Katariya in the 22nd minute, Monika in the 48th minute, and Udita in the 58th minute scored making the team unbeaten in the tournament.
• On 29 July, India defeated England 3-0 in their third match. Lalremsiami scored a hat-trick goal for India. 
• India finished on top of the competition with eight points from four matches.
• Spain and England finished with four points each from four matches and hosts Spain finished second.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: National Appointments

13. Prof Ganesan Kannabiran becomes the new NAAC director.

• Prof Ganesan Kannabiran has been appointed as the director of the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC).
• He is a senior professor of Information Systems at the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Tiruchirappalli.
• He also served as the Dean of Research and Consultancy and Director-in-Charge of NIT Trichy and NIT Puducherry.
• He was one of the founding directors of the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Andhra Pradesh.
• During his career, he has worked on projects in the fields of computer-based learning, industry 4.0, entrepreneurship development, etc.
• National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC):
  • It is responsible for assessing and accrediting higher educational institutions in India.
  • It functions through its general council and executive committee.
  • It is an autonomous body funded by the University Grants Commission.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

14. Ratan Tata will get the first Udyog Ratna Award of Maharashtra.

• Maharashtra Government will give its Udyog Ratna Award to Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata.
• The Maharashtra government has decided to start the prestigious Udyog Ratna Award from this year onward.
• The first Udyog Ratna Award of Maharashtra will be presented to Ratan Tata.
• State Industries Minister Uday Samant said that Awards for young entrepreneurs, woman entrepreneurs and Marathi entrepreneurs will be also presented.
• The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by chief minister Eknath Shinde, deputy chief ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar.
• Ratan Tata received the Padma Vibhushan in 2008 and Padma Bhushan in 2000.
• In 2023, he also received the Honorary Officer of the Order of Australia.