Daily Current Affairs and GK | 15 July 2022

Topic: Infrastructure and Energy

1. Central Government approved a new rail line in Rajasthan and Gujarat with an outlay of Rs 2,798.16 crore.

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the construction of the Taranga Hill-Ambaji- Abu Road new rail line.
• It will be 116.65 km long and provide connectivity to Ambaji, a famous pilgrimage destination in India. Ambaji attracts tourists from Rajasthan and Gujarat.
• The Ajitnath Jain temple will also get benefit from this railway line.
  It will also provide an alternative route for the existing Ahmedabad-Abu Road railway line.
• The Union Cabinet also approved the up-gradation of the National Rail and Transportation Institute (NRTI) to Gati Shakti University.
• It will act as a centre for education, training, skilling, and research in the transportation sector.
• National Rail and Transportation Institute (NRTI) will be now a Central University. It is India's first transport institute situated in Vadodara, Gujarat.

Topic: Books and Authors

2. Himachal Pradesh Governor released a book titled “The McMahon line: A century of discord”.

• It has been authored by former Governor of Arunachal Pradesh and former Chief of Army Staff General JJ Singh (Retd).
• The book is about the former Army chief’s experiences and research on the India-China border dispute.
• In this book, he has written about the politics, history, structure and geography of the McMahon line.
• A short film related to the McMahon line was also screened on the occasion.
• McMahon Line:
  • McMahon Line is the effective boundary between China and India.
  • Sir Henry McMahon proposed the line at the 1914 Simla Convention to separate Tibet from India in the eastern sector.
  • It is 890 kilometres long and extends from the corner of Bhutan to the Isu Razi Pass on the Burma border.

Topic: Important Days

3. National Plastic Surgery Day 2022: 15 July

• Every year on July 15, India observes National Plastic Surgery Day.
• Dr. S. Raja Sabapathy, the then President of the Association of Plastic Surgeons of India, first proposed the concept of National Plastic Surgery Day in 2011.
• National Plastic Surgery Day has been adopted as World Plastic Surgery Day.
• 'APSI Sushruta Film Festival' (ASFF 2022) has been organized by the Burn and Plastic Surgery Department of AIIMS, Delhi in collaboration with the Association of Plastic Surgeons of India (APSI).
• It was organized to celebrate the 12^th National Plastic Surgery Day on 15^th July.
• The film festival was observed on the theme of ‘Changing lives with Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery’.
• The purpose of the film festival is to highlight the best work performed by plastic surgeons across the country.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: State News/ Mizoram

4. According to the Govt. survey, Mizoram has the highest proportion of women working as legislators and managers.

• According to the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) for July 2020-June 2021, Mizoram also has the highest proportion of women working in managerial positions (40.8%), followed by Sikkim (32.5%) and Meghalaya (31%).
• The data showed that the proportion of female workers in the general positions working in managerial positions at All India levels was 18 percent.
• Similarly, the proportion of female workers to male workers as legislators, senior officials, and managers was 22.2 percent.
• According to the data, numerous states/union territories had lower proportions of women working as legislators, senior officials, and managers. These are: Uttarakhand (3.6 percent), Jammu and Kashmir (4.8 percent), Bihar (7.8 percent), Punjab (8.4 percent), etc.
• Dadra Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (1.8%) had the lowest ratio.
• In April 2017, the National Statistical Office (NSO) launched PLFS.

Topic: India and Its Neighbours

5. Gotabaya Rajapaksa sent his resignation letter to Sri Lanka Speaker.

• Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa sent his resignation via an email to Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abhayavardhan.
• Ranil Wickremesinghe will take over as the acting President after Rajapaksa's resignation.
• According to the Sri Lankan Constitution, the Speaker of Parliament will act as President for a maximum of 30 days if both the President and Prime Minister resign.
• Within 30 days, the Parliament will choose a new President from among its members. Then, that person will serve as President for the remaining two years of the current term.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

6. A new mobile app for Aadhaar face authentication has been launched.

• A new mobile app called "AadhaarFaceRd" has been launched by UIDAI for face authentication through a mobile app from anywhere and at any time.
• According to UIDAI, Aadhaar holders' identities like their Aadhaar numbers and biometric data can be stored in the Central Identity Data Repository by using face authentication.
• Aadhaar Face Authentication technology has been developed in-house by UIDAI.
• An Aadhaar holder's actual identity, which was collected at the time of Aadhaar enrolment, is validated and recorded in the databases of UIDAI through this verification.
• Aadhaar holders can use "AadhaarFaceRd" app for various initiatives such as Ration Distribution, Farmer welfare schemes, Scholarship schemes, etc.
• Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI):
  • It was established as a statutory authority under the Aadhaar Act 2016.
  • It works under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
  • It has so far issued Aadhaar numbers to more than 132 crore residents.
  • Dr. Saurabh Garg is the Chief Executive Officer of Unique Identification Authority of India.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

7. Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar launched Platform of Platforms (POP) under the National Agriculture Market (e-NAM).

• He launched the POP under e-NAM on the sidelines of the State Agriculture and Horticulture Ministers' Conference in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
• Equity grant of more than Rs 37 crore was also released to 1,018 Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs).
• With the introduction of POP, farmers will be able to sell crops outside the state borders.
• 41 service providers from different platforms are covered under POP. The POP can be accessed through e-NAM mobile app.
• E-NAM mobile app can be downloaded from Google Play Store.
• Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India is organizing National Conference of State Agriculture & Horticulture Ministers in Bengaluru on 14-15th July, 2022.

(Source: PIB)

Topic: National News

8. Ahmedabad and Kerala have been included by TIME magazine in its list of the World’s Greatest Places of 2022.

• These places have been included by TIME magazine among the 50 extraordinary destinations in its list of the World’s Greatest Places of 2022.
• Seoul, Buahan in Bali, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and Madeira in Spain are other places in list.
• TIME described Kerala as ‘one of India’s most beautiful states.’ Kerala is known as “God’s own country”.
• TIME said Kerala’s first caravan park, Karavan Meadows, has been opened in Vagamon.
• Ahmedabad is India’s first UNESCO World Heritage City.
• TIME said that Ahmedabad’s Gujarat Science City added three attractions last year.
• They include a 20-acre natural park, a new robot gallery and a new aquarium. Science City’s new aquarium is now India’s largest.  

Topic: Indian Economy

9. Central government relaxed norms for adjusting states' off-budget borrowings.

• As per the new norms, liabilities of the last fiscal year can be adjusted against their borrowing ceilings for the next four years till March 2026.
• In order to bring transparency to the finances of the states, the Center had informed them in March that the off-budget debt has to be equated with the states' own borrowing.
• Any such funds raised by the governments in the financial years 2020-21 and 2021-22 will need to be adjusted outside the debt limit.
• Off-budget borrowings are the loans taken by state government entities, special purpose vehicles, etc, in which principal and interest are repaid from the budget of the state government.
• The off-budget borrowings of states have increased mainly due to the reduction in revenue growth and increased revenue expenditure.
• As per norms, state governments have to take approval from the central government for fresh borrowing after the limit of a financial year.
• The Centre has fixed the net borrowing ceiling of states at Rs 8,57,849 crore or 3.5 per cent of GSDP.

Topic: Personality in News

10. Jahnavi Dangeti becomes the youngest astronaut to complete the Analog Astronaut programme from AATC.

• Jahnavi Dangeti completed the two-week training programme at the Analog Astronaut Training Centre (AATC) in South Poland at the age of 19.
• AATC has been established by the European Space professionals to carry out spaceflight scientific studies.
• Six persons from across the world were selected for this programme based on achievements and association with the space programmes.
• Jahnavi Dangeti completed NASA’s International Air and Space Programme (IASP) at the Kennedy Space Centre in 2021.
• Under the Analog Astronaut programme, AATC has so far trained 45 batches.

Topic: Agriculture and allied sectors

11. Government created a roadmap to promote North-Eastern (NE) states as Agriculture export hub.

• For promoting the export of horticulture products grown in North-Eastern (NE) states, the government has created a strategy.
• APEDA signed an MoU with Assam Agriculture University to conduct training programmes on pre-harvest and post-harvest management and other research activities.
• Recently, APEDA also organized a conference on the Export Potential of Natural, Organic and Geographical Indications (GI) Agro Products
• APEDA organised a training programme to promote the export of organic pork from Sikkim.
• For the first time, Tripura’s Jack fruit, and Nagaland’s King Chilli were exported to London.
• The APEDA promoted GI products like Bhut Jolokia, Assam Lemon, etc. from NER.
• In the last six years, the export of agricultural products has increased from USD 2.52 million in 2016-17 to USD 17.2 million in 2021-22.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

12. Government extended RoSCTL scheme till March 2024.

• The government has approved the continuation of the Scheme for Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL) to boost exports and job creation in the textile sector.
• In 2019, the RoSL (Rebate of State Levies) scheme was converted into a new scheme Rebate of State and Central Taxes Levies (RoSCTL).
• The scheme has supported the incubation of start-ups and entrepreneurs. It helped in improving cost efficiency and export competitiveness.
• This scheme has provided a stable and predictable policy regime and helped in generating employment in the textile sector.
• Textile Ministry has a fixed maximum rate of rebate for the scheme at 6.05% for apparel and 8.2% for made-ups.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: State News/ New Delhi

13. Delhi government launched the ‘SAH-BHAGITA’ scheme for resident welfare associations.

• Lieutenant Governor (L-G) VK Saxena launched the ‘SAH-BHAGITA’ scheme to increase the involvement of the Residential Welfare Association (RWAs) in tax collection and waste management systems.
• Under this scheme, RWAs will get incentives for their efforts to improve efficiency and compliance in tax collection.
• RWAs will get incentives for achieving 90 per cent tax collection from the total number of properties in their societies or colonies.
• After achieving this feat, RWAs can recommend development works worth 10% of the tax collection but it should not be more than Rs 1 Lakh.
• In addition to this, an extra 5% incentive will be given if the colony implements 100% waste segregation at the source.

Topic: Sports

14. Mohammed Shami becomes fastest Indian bowler to take 150 wickets in ODI.

• He achieved this feat in first India vs England ODI at the Kennington Oval. He has taken 150 wickets in 80 matches.
• Mohammed Shami broke the record of Ajit Agarkar to take the fastest 150 ODI wickets.
• Shami is the third fastest in the world to take 150 wickets in ODI. Mitchell Starc of Australia holds the record for the fastest 150 wickets.
• Note:
  • Sri Lankan bowler Muttiah Muralitharan is the highest wicket-taker in ODIs.
  • Anil Kumble has taken most wickets for India in ODIs.