Daily Current Affairs and GK | 12 September 2024

Topic: National News

1. Cabinet approved ₹5 lakh health insurance for senior citizens above 70 years.

• Under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY), the government has approved health coverage of ₹5 lakh for all senior citizens aged 70 and above.
• It will benefit 4.5 crore families across the country.
• All citizens above 70 years would be eligible to avail the benefits of AB PM-JAY irrespective of their socio-economic status.
• Senior citizens aged 70 and above will receive a distinct card under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY).
• Persons covered under AB PM-JAY will get an additional top-up of ₹5 lakh per annum for senior citizens in their families.
• Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana:
• It was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 23, 2018 in Ranchi.
• It is the world's largest publicly funded health assurance scheme.
• It provides health coverage of ₹5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalizations.
• The scheme covers 55 crore people from 12.34 crore families, regardless of the age of family members.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

2. PM Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement (PM E-DRIVE) Scheme has been approved by the Union Cabinet.

• PM E-DRIVE Scheme has been approved with an outlay of Rs.10,900 crore over a period of two years.
• The Scheme now includes e-vouchers for EV buyers to avail demand incentives.
• Under the scheme, Rs.500 crore have been allocated for the deployment of e-ambulances. This is a crucial step towards integrating EVs in to the health sector.
• The scheme aims to enhance vehicle testing infrastructure with fund of Rs.780 crore for development of testing agencies.
• Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) has proposed implementation of PM E-DRIVE Scheme for promotion of electric mobility in India.
• The scheme provides subsidies/demand incentives worth Rs.3,679 crore to incentivize e-2Ws, e-3Ws, e-ambulances, e-trucks and other emerging EVs.
• Rs.500 crore has been allocated for incentivising e-trucks.
• The scheme will support 24.79 lakh e-2Ws, 3.16 lakh e-3Ws, and 14,028 e-buses.

Topic: Defence

3. The Defence Aviation Expo will be inaugurated by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

• Defence Aviation Expo is being organised at Jodhpur Air Force station.
• This edition of IDAX is scheduled from 12-14 September 2024 at Jodhpur, Rajasthan.
• It will have a grand participation from industry. It will host a wide range of products, technologies.
• IDAX aims to showcase indigenous skills and indomitable spirit of Indian Aviation Industries to a wide spectrum of decision-makers.
• It also aims to showcase indigenous skills and indomitable spirit of Indian Aviation Industries to end users from Global Air Forces participating in Tarang Shakti 2024.

Topic: Important Days

4. National Forest Martyrs Day: 11 September

• National Forest Martyrs Day is observed each year on September 11 to remember the sacrifices made to protect India's rich natural heritage.
• This day also aims to increase awareness about the importance of conserving our forests, wildlife, and natural resources.
• The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change officially announced September 11th as National Forest Martyrs Day in 2013.
• The Khejarli tragedy is remembered with the establishment of National Forest Martyrs Day.
• Amrita Devi Bishnoi and more than 350 other Bishnoi community members gave their life in this tragic event to save the Khejri trees.
• They opposed Maharaja Abhay Singh's orders, which required his workers to fell trees in order to build his palace.

Topic: Government Scheme and Initiatives

5. The PM-e-Bus Seva Scheme worth Rs 3,435 crore has been approved by the Union Cabinet to promote electric buses.

• The “PM-e-Bus Service-Payment Security Mechanism (PSM) Scheme” has been approved by the Union Cabinet.
• The aim of this initiative is to assist Public Transport Authorities (PTAs) in procuring and operating electric buses (e-buses), with a financial outlay of Rs 3,435.33 crore.
• More than 38,000 e-buses are to be deployed under this scheme between FY 2024-25 and FY 2028-29.
• These buses will get operational support for 12 years from the date of their deployment.
• At present, many PTAs depend on diesel or CNG buses, which contribute to environmental pollution.
• However, PTAs are facing difficulty in adopting e-buses as their initial cost is high and revenue yield is low.
• The scheme encourages the use of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model under the Gross Cost Contracting (GCC) framework.
• This model exempts the PTA from bearing the initial capital cost, as the responsibility for procurement and operation of e-buses lies with the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) or operators.

(Source: DD News)

Topic: Government Scheme and Initiatives

6. A website containing technical terms in 22 official Indian languages was launched by the government.

• Under the aegis of the Union Ministry of Education, the Commission for Scientific and Technical Terminology (CSTT) has launched a unique website that provides technical terms in all 22 official Indian languages.
• The aim of the web portal ‘shabd.education.gov.in’ is to become a central repository of all terminologies prepared for Indian languages.
• Apart from all the glossaries of CSTT, other institutions or agencies having such dictionaries are also able to submit their work in digital form on this platform.
• Currently, a total of 322 glossaries containing around 22,00,000 words are available on searching the portal.
• The ultimate goal is to have 450 glossaries available.
• Through this platform, users are able to search equivalents of scientific and technical terminology in Indian languages ​​and can also submit their responses to the equivalents already prepared by CSTT.
• Established in 1961, CSTT aims to develop and define scientific and technical terms in Hindi and all Indian languages.
• It regularly publishes a large number of text-books and monographs, besides it also publishes quarterly journals named ‘Vigyan Garima Sindhu’ and ‘Gyan Garima Sindhu’.

Topic: Summits/ Conferences/ Meetings

7. PM Modi virtually addressed International Conference on Green Hydrogen.

• Mr. Modi noted that the government had fulfilled its green energy commitments made in Paris before any other G20 countries.
• He stated that these obligations were fulfilled nine years in advance of the 2030 target.
• He also mentioned, in the previous ten years, India's potential to use non-fossil fuels had grown by around 300 percent.
• He also mentioned, in the same time period, India's solar energy capacity grew by more than 3,000%.
• India launched the National Green Hydrogen Mission on 4th January, 2023.
• The goal of the government is to establish India as a global centre for the production, use, and export of green hydrogen.
• PM said that the national Green Hydrogen Mission is boosting infrastructure, industry, investment, and innovation.
• The 2nd International Conference on Green Hydrogen (ICGH 2024) is being organised from 11th–13th September 2024 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi.
• It is being organised by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and the Office of Principal Scientific Advisor, in association with Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and the Department of Science & Technology.

Topic: National Appointments

8. Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) has announced the appointment of RS Sharma as its non-executive chairperson.

• He has held many important positions in his career in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS).
• These positions include Director General and Mission Director of UIDAI, Chairman of TRAI, and CEO of the National Health Authority.
• He was a member of the ONDC Advisory Council and the ONDC Technology & Strategy Review Council.
• ONDC was incorporated as a Section 8 company in December 2021, with the Quality Council of India and Protean eGov Technologies Limited as Founding Members.
• Its mission is to dramatically increase e-commerce penetration in the country. T Koshy is its MD & CEO.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

9. Union Minister Piyush Goyal launched the Trade Connect e-platform.

• The Trade Connect e-platform has been launched to support Indian exporters, MSMEs, and entrepreneurs.
• This platform will connect Indian businesses and key stakeholders, including Indian Missions abroad, Export Promotion Councils, and partner government agencies.
• It will provide information on global trade events, benefits from India’s Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), and other relevant international trade data.
• This platform will offer immediate access to critical information in a very easy way.
• The Trade Connect e-Platform will be a single window initiative for exporters to add newer markets.
• Small FPOs, businesses and entrepreneurs could also use this platform.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

10. Cabinet approved ‘Mission Mausam’ to enhance capacity to cope with extreme weather and climate challenges.

• ‘Mission Mausam’ was approved by the Union Cabinet on 11 September with an outlay of ₹2,000 crore over two years.
• The Ministry of Earth Sciences will be the nodal body for implementing the mission.
• The mission's main aim is to boost research and development, and capacity in atmospheric sciences, weather surveillance, modelling, forecasting, and management.
• Under this mission, advanced observation systems, high-performance computing and cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning will be integrated.
• It will also set a new benchmark for predicting weather with high precision.
• India Meteorological Department, the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, and the National Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecast will implement Mission Mausam.
• Mission Mausam will benefit different sectors such as agriculture, disaster management, defence, environment, aviation, water resources, etc.

Topic: International News

11. Nepal has become the 101st country to join as a full member of the International Solar Alliance (ISA).

• Nepal submitted its instrument of ratification to the ISA on 9 September in New Delhi.
• The ratification instrument was exchanged during a meeting between Nepal Foreign Minister Dr. Surendra Thapa and Abhishek Singh, Joint Secretary (ED & MER) in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
• The International Solar Alliance (ISA) is an action-oriented, member-driven, collaborative forum.
• It aims to increase the deployment of solar energy technologies in its member countries as a means of enhancing access to energy, ensuring energy security, and promoting the energy transition.
• India and France jointly launched the International Solar Alliance (ISA) on 30 November 2015 at COP21 in Paris, France.
• ISA is an intergovernmental organization whose headquarters is located in Gurugram, Haryana.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Company and Corporates

12. The proposed merger of Tata Motors Finance with Tata Capital approved by CCI.

• On 10 September, the proposed merger of Tata Motors Finance Limited with Tata Capital Limited was approved by the Competition Commission of India (CCI).
• Tata Capital Limited (TCL) is a subsidiary of Tata Sons and operates as a non-banking financial investment and debt company (NBFC-ICC).
• TCL is primarily engaged in the business of lending, leasing, factoring, financing, and distribution of financial products.
• Operating as an NBFC-ICC, Tata Motors Finance Ltd. (TMFL) is in the business of providing loans and facilities to finance the purchase of new cars manufactured by Tata Motors and its associated companies.
• TMFL also refinances existing vehicle finance loans. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Motors Limited.
• In June 2024, the boards of Tata Motors, TCL, and TMFL approved the merger of TMFL with TCL through the NCLT scheme of arrangement.
• As consideration for the merger, TCL will issue its equity shares to the shareholders of TMFL, resulting in TML's effective shareholding in the merged entity being 4.7%.
• TCL and TMFL reported profit after tax of Rs 3,150 crore and Rs 52 crore, respectively, in FY24.

Topic: Summits/ Conferences/ Meetings

13. PM Modi chaired the first governing board meeting of the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF).

• The Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) was created by the Anusandhan National Research Foundation Act 2023.
• In the meeting, several programs were introduced to bolster India’s scientific capabilities and global competitiveness.
• Its main aim is to foster a strengthened research ecosystem across the country.
• Partnerships for Accelerated Innovation and Research (PAIR) program initiative was also announced.
• This multi-institutional endeavour will facilitate collaboration between top-tier institutions.
• The program aims to systematically enhance research excellence and efficiently spread research culture across institutions.
• The Mission for Advancement in High-impact Areas (MAHA) initiative was launched.
• This mission-mode program will focus on priority-driven, solution-focused research in strategic areas.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

14. President presented the National Florence Nightingale Awards to nurses.

• President Droupadi Murmu conferred the National Florence Nightingale Awards 2024 to Nurses.
• The National Florence Nightingale Award was instituted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in 1973.
• This award recognises and honours the meritorious services rendered by outstanding nursing personnel.
• It is given in remembrance of Florence J Nightingale. It is the highest national award in the field of nursing.
• The winner receives a cash prize of Rs 50,000, a certificate and a medal.