Daily Current Affairs and GK | 10 August 2022

Topic: International News

1. FAO launched a project to digitally map soil nutrients in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and Central America.

• The project to digitally map soil nutrients has been launched to increase the efficiency of using fertilizers and to boost food security and nutrition.
• The project will also help in improving the existing soil maps in Guatemala, Honduras, and other countries of Central America.
• The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) will also scale up a soil-mapping project in Ethiopia.
• FAO is creating a regional soil information system around Latin America and the Caribbean.
• In 2020-21, the largest increase in moderate or severe food insecurity was seen in Africa.
• The Global Soil Partnership is supporting countries in establishing national soil information systems and developing country-driven global maps.
• The Global Soil Partnership is a globally recognized mechanism to promote sustainable soil management.
• The FAO-UNESCO Soil Map of the World was launched in 1961.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

2. Samudrayaan Mission aims to develop a self-propelled manned submersible that can take 3 people to a water depth of 6000 meters in the ocean.

• It has 12 hours of operational period and 96 hours in case of emergency.
• Its projected timeline is five years for the period 2020-2021 to 2025-2026.
• The manned submersible will enable scientific personnel to directly observe and understand deep sea regions.
• It will also improve the capacity for developing deep sea man-rated vehicles.
• National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Chennai, has developed 6000m depth rated Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) and various other underwater instruments for the exploration of deep sea.
• NIOT is an autonomous institute under Ministry of Earth Sciences.
• With the launch of ocean mission Samudrayaan in October 2021, India joined club of nations such as US, Russia, Japan, France and China to have vehicles to carry out subsea activities.
• The preliminary design of the manned submersible vehicle ‘MATSYA 6000’ is completed. It is developed indigenously.
• Deep Ocean Mission (DOM) was approved under the aegis of the Ministry of Earth Sciences at a total budget of Rs 4,077 crore for a period of five years.
• It will be a mission mode project to support the Blue Economy Initiatives of the Government of India.
• About 95% of the Deep Ocean remains unexplored.

Topic: Important Days

3. World Lion Day: 10 August

• World Lion Day is celebrated every year on 10 August to increase public awareness of the significance of lion conservation.
• First World Lion Day was celebrated in 2013.
• World Lion Day was co-founded by Dereck and Beverly Joubert of the Big Cat Initiative and National Geographic in a partnership.
• Their aim was to safeguard lions in their natural environment.
• Lions are listed as vulnerable on IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species. They are ecologically significant.
• Gir Forest, Gujarat is home to the only wild population of lions outside of Africa.
• As per the latest census (till June 2020), the population of Asiatic Lions in India increased from 523 in 2015 to 674 in 2020.
• This is a growth of about 29% in the population of Asiatic lions, living in Gujarat's Gir forests, in the past five years.

Topic: Banking System

4. RBI has imposed fine on 8 urban cooperative banks for non-compliance with various norms.

• A fine of Rs 40 lakh has been imposed on the Mehsana Urban Co-operative Bank, Gujarat, for non-compliance with certain norms.
• A fine of Rs 7 lakh has been imposed on Indapur Urban Cooperative Bank, Indapur (Maharashtra).
• Three banks have been penalized for non-compliance with Know Your Customer norms. Their names are given below.
  • Warud Urban Co-operative Bank, Warud (Maharashtra)
  • Jila Sahakari Kendriya Bank Maryadit, Chhindwara (Madhya Pradesh)
  • Yavatmal Urban Co-operative Bank, Yavatmal (Maharashtra)
• A fine of Rs 25 lakh has been imposed on Chhattisgarh Rajya Sahakari Bank Maryadit, Raipur (Chhattisgarh).
• Garha Co-operative Bank Limited, Guna (Madhya Pradesh) and the Goa State Co-operative Bank, Panaji are the two other banks, which have been penalized.

Topic: National Appointment

5. Nitish Kumar will take an oath as the CM of Bihar.

• JDU leader Nitish Kumar will take oath as Bihar Chief Minister and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav as Deputy Chief Minister on 10 August.
• The swearing-in ceremony will take place at Patna's Raj Bhavan.
• Mr. Kumar was unanimously elected leader of the grand alliance of JD(U), RJD, and Congress.
• Earlier, Nitish Kumar resigned as Bihar's NDA chief minister and submitted a letter of support from 164 MLA to form a government with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)-led grouping.
• In the 243-member Bihar assembly, there are 77 members of the BJP and 45 members of the JD (U).
• Chief Minister:
  • Chief Minister is the elected head of the government of a state.
  • Article 164 states that the Chief Minister shall be appointed by the Governor and the other ministers shall be appointed on the advice of the Chief Minister.
  • He advises the Governor regarding the appointment of other Ministers and decides the portfolios for them.
  • Chief Minister of a state can give his resignation to the Governor.

(Source: News on Air)

Topic: Sports

6. American legendary player Serena Williams has announced her retirement from professional tennis.

• The 40-year-old tennis star announced her retirement in an article for Vogue magazine.
• She will take retirement after the US Open tournament.
• She was ranked by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) singles world number one for 319 weeks, including a joint record of 186 consecutive weeks.
• She has won 73 singles titles, and 23 doubles titles in her career.
• She has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, which is behind only Margaret Court's 24 titles.

Topic: National News

7. Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah e-launched onboarding of cooperatives on the GeM portal.

• 589 cooperatives have been shortlisted as eligible for onboarding on Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal.
• With the e-launch, eligible cooperatives can place order on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal.
• He urged all the co-operatives society to join Government e-Marketplace (GeM) with their products.
• Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that a total of 2,80,000 crore rupees business has been done on the GeM portal in the previous six years.
• In June 2022, Cabinet had expanded the mandate of Government e-Marketplace (GeM) to allow cooperatives to procure goods and services through the GeM portal.

Topic: Personality in News

8. Marathi actor Pradeep Patwardhan passed away recently.

• He was popular in Marathi cinema and theatre space.
• Moruchi Mavashi was his most popular play.
• He was known for his performance in films such as “Chashme Bahaddar”, “Ek Shodh” and “Mee Shivajiraje Bhosale Boltoy”.
• He also worked in Anurag Kashyap’s film Bombay Velvet.

Topic: International Appointments

9. James Marape sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea.

• Papua New Guinea’s Parliament has elected James Marape as Prime Minister after the elections.
• He became the Prime Minister for the second time. The election in Papua New Guinea was held between 4 July to 22 July.
• The election in Papua New Guinea is very challenging due to difficult terrain, extreme weather, poor transport infrastructure, and linguistic and cultural diversity.
• James Marape is the leader of the Pangu Party, which has won 36 seats and clinched 97 votes in Parliament.
• He became Prime Minister for the first time in 2019.
• Papua New Guinea:
  • It is the third largest island country in the world.
  • Its capital is Port Moresby, and its currency is Kina.
  • It is located in the Oceania geographic region.
  • It is one of the most linguistically diverse countries in the world.

Topic: International News

10. Australia's central bank will launch a digital currency pilot project.

• The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) announced that it would launch a year-long pilot project to examine the potential economic benefits of the digital currency.
• The Reserve Bank of Australia will join hands with the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre (DFCRC) for the project.
• The result of the pilot project will determine the probability of CBDC in Australia.
• As per the IMF, around 100 countries are planning to launch central bank digital currency (CBDC).
• CBDC will help in faster and cheaper transactions, promote financial inclusion and provide flexibility to central banks in determining monetary policy.
• CBDC is different from digital tokens like Bitcoin as it is controlled by a central authority.
• India is expected to launch CBDC or the digital rupee in the financial year 2022-23.
• CBDC is Central Bank Digital Currency, which is backed by the central bank of the concerned nation.

Topic: State News/ Uttar Pradesh

11. To commemorate the anniversary of the Kakori Train Action, CM Yogi Adityanath launched 'Radio Jaighosh'.

• The Department of Culture of Uttar Pradesh has launched the community radio channel “Radio Jaighosh” to promote folk art, performing arts, and regional delicacies of Uttar Pradesh.
• Radio Jaighosh will be available at 107.8 MHz and will broadcast programmes from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
• It will help in connecting youths and children with the ethos, customs, and values of Uttar Pradesh.
• The state government will also promote artists and unsung heroes of the state.
• A daily radio show, 'Parakram', will be broadcast which will revolve around soldiers of the pre and post-Independence time and unsung heroes.
• A daily show, 'Shaurya Nagar', will promote folktales from all the 75 districts of the state.
• Many other different shows will be broadcast such as 'Rajya ki Rasoi' on the delicacies of Uttar Pradesh, 'Rang Shala' on theatre artists, 'Rajya ki Raftaar' on government schemes, and 'Rang Yatra' on performing arts.
• Kakori Train Action:
  • The Kakori Train Action or Kakori Conspiracy is a train robbery that took place at a village Kakori near Lucknow on 9 August 1925.
  • The robbery was executed by Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan, Rajendra Lahiri, Chandrashekhar Azad, and other members of the Hindustan Republican Association.

Topic: State News/ Jharkhand

12. A two-day Jharkhand Janjatiya Mahotsav 2022 began in Ranchi.

• Shibu Soren inaugurated the Jharkhand Tribal Festival 2022 in the presence of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren.
• The Jharkhand Tribal Festival will be celebrated at Morhabadi Ground in Ranchi from 9 to10 August 2022.
• Several programmes related to tribal art, culture, tradition, and literature will be organized during the Tribal Festival.
• Seminars and panel discussions will also be organized at the Jharkhand Tribal Festival.
• Jharkhand is celebrating the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples in the form of a two-day tribal festival.
• There are 32 tribes inhabiting in Jharkhand. Some of these are-  Munda, Santhal, Oraon, Kharia, Gond, Kol, Kanwar, Baiga, Ho, Khond, Lohra, Mahli, Korwa, Parhaiya, Bhumij.

Topic: Environment and Ecology

13. Due to habitat loss and urbanization, the Peninsular Rock Agama disappeared from southern India.

• The Peninsular Rock Agama (Psammophilus dorsalis) is a type of garden lizard found in southern India.
• Peninsular Rock Agama is generally found in rocky places and warm spots. Many environmental factors have affected its presence in urban areas.
• The Peninsular Rock Agama is a large lizard in orange and black colour. They cannot generate heat from their body, so they need warmth from external sources.
• They eat insects and play a very important role in the ecosystem.
• According to a study, a lot of flora and fauna are disappearing from cities like Bengaluru, rock agama is one such species.
• Smaller fauna and flora are the key indicators of a healthy ecosystem and they need to be preserved.
• A study on Peninsular Rock Agama was carried out by researchers from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru.

Topic: New Developments

14. AIIMS has developed an anti-gravity body suit to perform yoga in space.

• The Physiology Department of All India Institute of Medical Sciences has developed an anti-gravity body suit, which will allow astronauts to perform yoga in space.
• This suit has been successfully tested by the National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar for performing squats and stepping.
• It will help astronauts in strengthening antigravity musculature and preventing atrophy in a microgravity environment.
• It will increase the weight of astronauts in space by 70% and prevent them from floating. With the help of this suit, astronauts will be stuck to the surface in space by the Velcro-magnetic force.
• In future, this suit will be also used in Space tourism. It will help people adapt to the change and maintain their physiology just like on earth.
• Yoga in space is a part of the initiative to survive in the harsh environments of space.