Daily Current Affairs and GK | 11 August 2021

Topic: Agriculture

1. Government announced a National Edible Oil Mission-Oil Palm.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a National Edible Oil Mission-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP).
• The main objective of this mission is to boost domestic oilseed production and to make India self-sufficient in cooking oils.
• The government will invest ₹11,000 crores to create an edible oil ecosystem. Government will provide quality seeds and technology to promote the farming of palm oil and other oil seeds.
• India has already become self-sufficient in the production of rice, wheat and sugar.
• India is dependent on the import for its consumption of edible oil. Of the total imports, palm oil constitutes about 55%.
• India produces less than half of the edible oil that it consumes annually.

Topic: Personality in News

2. Commodore Kasargod Patnashetti Gopal Rao, 1971 war hero and recipient of Mahavir Chakra, passed away.

• Commodore Kasargod Patnashetti Gopal Rao, a 1971 war hero, died at the age of 94.
• He was awarded the Maha Vir Chakra for his contribution in the 1971 Indo-Pak War. He played a key role in the war with Pakistan to liberate East Pakistan.
• During the 1971 war, he was the commander of two Arnala-class anti-submarine corvettes. These anti-submarines had attacked Karachi Harbour on 4 December 1971.
• He was a recipient of the Vishist Seva Medal also.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

3. Lok Sabha passed Constitution (127th Amendment) Bill, 2021.

• The Lok Sabha passed the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Seventh Amendment) Bill, 2021. It has been passed by more than two-third of majority of the House.
• The bill proposed to restore the power of States and Union Territories to make their own OBC lists.
• The Amendment Bill will amend Articles 342 A (clauses 1 and 2) and will introduce a new clause - 342 A (3). It will also make amendments to Articles 366(26c) and 338B (9).
• Constitutional Amendment Bill would benefit 671 castes in the country. It will strengthen the federal structure of the country.
• The 102nd Constitution Amendment Act had empowered the President to notify the list of socially and educationally backward classes (SEBC) for any state or union territory.
• The government has brought this bill after a Supreme Court order in May 2021, which had empowered only the Central government for the identification of Other Backward Classes.
• Many parties are demanding to remove the 50% cap on reservations.

Topic: International News

4. India and France to launch space security dialogue.

• India and France will soon launch a space security dialogue. It will help both countries in protecting their space assets.
• France and India have strong space cooperation, which has helped in launching new space projects.
• France is providing medical support to Indian astronauts, who will be part of India’s manned space mission.
• In 2018, ‘India-France Joint Vision for Space Cooperation’ was also issued during the visit of French President Emmanuel Macron.
• France had conducted the space military exercise ‘Aster X’ with America and Germany.

Topic: Science and Technology

5. DABUS, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system has been granted patent by South Africa.

• DABUS, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system created by Stephen Thaler has been granted a patent by South Africa.
• This is the first time in the world that an AI system has been granted a patent.
• Before DABUS, Thaler built another AI system which he credited with inventing cross-bristle toothbrush design.
• Thaler filed a patent for cross bristle design and it was granted patent. At that time, Thaler listed himself, rather than the AI, as the inventor.
• However, in the case of the food container invention by DABUS, Thaler listed DABUS as an inventor while filing for a patent and South Africa granted patent.
• Stephen Thaler is a pioneer in the field of AI and programming. DABUS stands for “device for the autonomous bootstrapping of unified sentience”.
• DABUS is a type of AI, often referred to as “creativity machines”. Creativity Machines have the capability of independent and complex functioning without human intervention.
• Creativity machines process and critically analyse data. This process is known as machine learning.

Topic: Books and Authors

6. Sudha Murty has written a book for children aged between five and eight years.

• Sudha Murty has written a book for children aged between five and eight years. The book tells children about beauty of earth.
• The book is titled as "How the Earth Got Its Beauty". It is published by Penguin Random House imprint Puffin.
• The book has illustrations by Priyanka Pachpande. It is a beginner’s guide on the extraordinary stories about the earth.
• Sudha Murty is chairperson of Infosys Foundation. She is the wife of Infosys co-founder N. R. Narayana Murthy.

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

7. ADB collaborated with IIFL Home Finance to promote green housing in India.

• The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and IIFL Home Finance Limited have signed an agreement to promote green and affordable housing solutions in India.
• The main objective of this initiative is to reduce carbon emissions and conserve water and energy.
• ADB and IIFL will raise awareness about green-certified housing standards among developers and other stakeholders.
• It will help in integrating green lending and climate adaptation strategies for affordable housing solutions in India.
• To make the housing sector climate-resilient, training will be provided to IIFL’s technical team, staff of state housing boards and housing developers.
• IIFL is one of leading affordable housing finance companies in India. It has started several initiatives to promote green affordable housing.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

8. Nagaland bagged seven national awards Under “Van Dhan Yojana Scheme”.

• Nagaland has won seven national awards on the first Van Dhan Annual Awards 2020-21.
• Awards were distributed on the 34th foundation day of TRIFED. The awards were presented by Union tribal minister, Arjun Munda.
• Nagaland has received national awards in ‘Best Survey State’, ‘Best sales generated’, ‘Best Innovation and Creativity’, ‘Best Training’, and ‘Most number of VDVKC’s established’ category.
• It has received ‘Best Innovation and Creativity’ for Gooseberry Wine and Mushroom Cultivation.

Topic: Report and Indices

9. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its new report on climate change.

• The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has released the first part of its Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) titled ‘Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis’. IPCC brings out ‘assessment reports’ periodically since 2013.
• India’s climate will be affected by heat waves and melting of Himalayan glaciers and heavy rainfalls will occur towards the end of the century.
• The report provides new estimates of the chances of crossing the global warming level of 1.5°C in the next decades.
• Sea level in Asia has increased faster than the global average. Both annual and summer monsoon rainfall will increase in South Asia.
• The average surface temperature of the Earth will increase by 1.5 °C from pre-industrial levels in the next few decades.
• The report highlights that our climate is rapidly changing due to human influence.
• The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is a UN body set up in 1988 to assess the climate change.

Topic: Important Days

10. August 7 to be celebrated as National Javelin Throw Day.

• The Athletics Federation of India has announced that every year 7 August will be celebrated as National Javelin Throw Day. 
• It will be celebrated in all States and Union Territories to mark Neeraj’s  achievement in the Tokyo Olympic Games.
• Athletics Federation of India will also organize Javelin competitions across the country.
• Neeraj Chopra has won a Gold medal in Men’s Javelin Throw at Tokyo Olympics. He is the first athlete from independent India to win an Athletics (track and field) medal.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Science and Technology

11. Indian scientists developed Carbon-based Wrapper to increase shelf life of fruits.

• Indian scientists have developed a composite paper made of carbon (graphene oxide) loaded with preservatives to increase shelf life of fruits.
• Carbon-based paper can be used as wrappers to increase the shelf life of fruits and it is reusable.
• At present, preservative dipping technology is used to increase shelf life of fruits. In this technology, the preservatives get adsorbed by the fruit which is harmful to consumers.
• The new carbon-based wrapper release preservative only when required. It will help in protecting fruits from getting wasted.
• In this carbon based wrapper, the oxalic acids trigger the release of the preservatives only when fruit over-ripens or gets infested by pathogens. Otherwise, the preservative stays with the carbon-based wrapper.

(Source: News on AIR)