Daily Current Affairs and GK | 16 July 2022

Topic: State News/ Uttar Pradesh

1. PM Modi inaugurated the Bundelkhand Expressway in Jalaun district of Uttar Pradesh.

• Bundelkhand Expressway will pass through seven districts, Chitrakoot, Banda, Mahoba, Hamirpur, Jalaun, Auraiya and Etawah.
• It is a 296 km long four-lane expressway, which has been built at a cost of around Rs 14,850 crores.
• Later, it will be expanded up to six lanes. It has four railway bridges, 18 big bridges and 286 small bridges.
• It has been completed in record 28 months, 8 months ahead of its timeline.
• It starts from Gonda village near Bharatkoop in Chitrakoot district and ends near Kudrail village in Etawah district, where it merges with the Agra-Lucknow expressway.
• Prime Minister Modi laid the foundation stone of the Bundelkhand Expressway on 29 February 2020.
• It will also give a major boost to economic development in the Bundelkhand region.
• Uttar Pradesh with 13 expressways has the largest network of expressways.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Summits/ Conferences/ Meetings

2. India hosted a two-day meeting of the BIMSTEC Expert Group on Cyber Security Cooperation.

• BIMSTEC Expert Group meeting on Cyber Security Cooperation was held on 14-15 July in New Delhi.
• The main aim of this meeting is to formulate the Action Plan on cyber security and to enhance coordination amongst the BIMSTEC Member States for strengthening Cyber Security in the use of ICTs.
• The Action plan will be implemented in the next five years after which it will be reviewed.
• The action plan will cover international developments in cyber information, cybercrime, protection of critical information infrastructure, cyber incident response and cyber regulations.
• The meeting has been chaired by the National Cyber Security Coordinator Lt General Rajesh Pant.
• Delegates from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand took part in the meeting.
• In March 2019, BIMSTEC National Security Chiefs agreed upon forming an Action plan to deal with Cyber Security challenges in the region.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

3. Detailed guidelines for the 'Mission Shakti' scheme have been issued by the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

• Mission Shakti is an umbrella scheme for the empowerment of women, which was launched by the Indian government.
• During the 15^th Finance Commission period 2021-22 to 2025-26, it was launched for the protection, security, and empowerment of women for implementation.
• The norms of ‘Mission Shakti’ were implemented with effect from 1 April 2022.
• Mission Shakti' is a mission scheme aimed at enhancing interventions for women's safety, security, and empowerment.
• There are two sub-schemes of ‘Mission Shakti’: 'Sambal' and 'Samarthya'.
• Sambal:
  • It is for the safety and security of women.
  • Components of the sub-scheme include One Stop Centre (OSC), Women Helpline (WHL), and Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) and Nari Adalats.  
  • Apart from this, this scheme will work to promote alternative dispute resolution and gender justice within society and family.
• Samarthya:
  • It is for the empowerment of women.
  • The components of the sub-scheme consist of erstwhile schemes of Ujjwala, Swadhar Greh and Working Women Hostel have been included with modifications.
  • The existing schemes of the National Crche Scheme for children of working mothers and Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) under the umbrella of ICDS have now been included.
  • A new component of gap funding for economic empowerment has also been added.

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

4. Two MoUs have been signed by NHPC for the development of "Pilot Green Hydrogen Technologies".

• The MoUs were signed to reduce the carbon footprint in the Power Sector in Leh and Kargil districts of the Union Territory of Ladakh.
• According to MoU for the Leh district, NHPC shall consider the development of a pilot green hydrogen fuel cell-based microgrid, including hydrogen production to satisfy the power needs of the NHPC guest house at Nimmo Bazgo Power Station (Leh).
• As per the MoU for the Kargil district, the hydrogen generated in Kargil will be used in a fuel cell for mobility which will be able to run two buses in the local area of Kargil for 8 hours.
• To meet the Ladakh region's needs for hydrogen in areas such as mobility, transportation, heating, and micro-grid, NHPC will scale up hydrogen production on a commercial scale.
• These two pilot projects will prepare a roadmap for the future development of green hydrogen and employment opportunities for the youth of the Union Territory of Ladakh.
• National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC):
  • It is an Indian government hydropower body that is owned by the Ministry of Power.
  • It was established in 1975.
  • It is headquartered in Faridabad, Haryana.
  • Its Chairman & Managing Director is Abhay Kumar Singh.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Important Days

5. World Youth Skills Day 2022: 15 July

• Every year on July 15, World Youth Skills Day is celebrated.
• The theme of World Youth Skills Day 2022 is "Transforming youth skills for the future."
• The day is observed to highlight the strategic importance of providing young people with skills for employment, decent work, and entrepreneurship.
• In 2014, the United Nations General Assembly declared July 15 as World Youth Skills Day.
• The day provides a unique opportunity for dialogue among youth, technical and vocational education and training institutions (TVET), firms, employers and labour organizations, policymakers, and development partners.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: National News

6. A “Jagriti” mascot has been launched by the Government.

• In order to empower consumers and raise awareness of their rights, the Department of Consumer Affairs has launched "Jagriti" mascot.
• The mascot will be shown as an empowered consumer who is promoting consumer rights and solving the issues that consumers confront.
• The Jagriti mascot will be featured in all media campaigns with the tagline "Jago Grahak Jago".
• The mascot will be used to raise consumer awareness of the Department's various themes.
• Themes include:
  • Provisions of the Consumer Protection Act 2019
  • Hallmarking
  • National Consumer Helpline toll-free number 1915
  • Provisions of the weights and measures Act
  • Decisions of the Central Consumer Protection Authority
  • Testimonials by consumers on grievance redressal

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Reports and Indices/Rankings

7. The website of the Ministry of Home Affairs has been ranked first under the Central Ministries Portal in National e-Governance Service Delivery Assessment.

• The Digital Police portal of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has been ranked second in the assessment under the Central Ministries Services Portal.
• Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) conducted the assessment in association with NASSCOM and KPMG in 2021.
• Four main parameters of assessment were Accessibility, Content Availability, Ease of Use and Information Security and Privacy for Central Ministry Portals.
• Three more parameters were used for the Central Ministry Services Portals.
• These additional parameters were End Service Delivery, Integrated Service Delivery and Status and Request Tracking.

Topic: Committees/ Commissions/Taskforces

8. Defence Ministry has set up Apex Committee under the chairmanship of the Defence Secretary.

• The Apex Committee has been set up to conduct a Performance and Efficiency Audit into various aspects of the activities of the Ministry.
• Vice Chiefs of the three Services, Secretary Defence (Finance), and Chief of Integrated Staff Committee are members of the committee.
• The committee also includes Controller General of Defence Accounts, Director General (Acquisition) and other senior officials of the Ministry of Defence and Defence Research and Development Organisation.
• The committee will identify specific areas for the conduct of performance and audit by the Controller General of Defence Accounts.
• The committee will also advise Defence Minister on remedial measures to be adopted.
• It will also advise Defence Minister on measures for overall improvement in the strengthening of internal oversight and Risk Management Framework.

Topic: State News/ Kerala

9. Kerala becomes the first state in India to have its own internet service.

• Kerala is the only state in India which have its own internet service.
• The Kerala Fiber Optic Network Ltd is an IT infrastructure project to provide internet service to everyone in the state.
• The Kerala Fiber Optic Network Ltd has received the ISP license from @DoT_India.
• Under the KFON scheme, the government will provide free internet to BPL families and 30,000 government offices.
• In 2019, the Kerala government declared internet connection as a basic right and launched the KFON project with an outlay of Rs 1548 crore.
• According to a report, India has 646 million active internet users as of December 2021.
• Internet services were launched in India on 15^th August 1995 by Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited.

Topic: Indian Polity

10. Government will introduce a bill to regulate digital media in the upcoming Monsoon Session.

• The Government will bring the Registration of Press and Periodicals Bill, 2019 to regulate the Digital News Media industry.
• With this bill, the government will bring digital news at par with newspapers.
• The Bill will replace the Press and Registration of Books (PRB) Act, 1867, which regulate newspapers and printing presses in India.
• As per the bill, digital news publishers have to register themselves with the Press Registrar General. Digital news publishers have to apply for registration within 90 days after the law becomes effective.
• If the bill gets passed then it will be the first time that digital media in India will have regulations.
• The main criticism of the bill is that it can curtail the Freedom of Speech and Expression of digital media.

Topic: Defence

11. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated stealth frigate ‘Dunagiri’ in Kolkata.

• Stealth frigate ‘Dunagiri’ has been built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers.
• ‘Dunagiri’ is the fourth ship of P17A stealth frigates. P17A ships are guided-missile frigates and have been designed by the Directorate of Naval Design (DND).
• It has been named after a mountain range of Uttarakhand.
• It is the reincarnation of the erstwhile ‘Dunagiri’, the Leander Class ASW Frigate. ‘Dunagiri’ was decommissioned in 2010 after serving for 33 years.
• A total of seven frigates will be built under P-17 A for the Indian Navy. These will be equipped with advanced stealth capability.

Topic: Sports

12. India topped the medal tally with 8 medals at ISSF Shooting World Cup in South Korea.

• India finished the tournament with eight medals including three golds, four silvers and one bronze.
• Arjun Babuta, Shahu Tushar Mane and Paarth Makhija helped India in winning its third gold in the 10-metre air rifle team event.
• The trio of Elavenil Valaviran, Mehuli Ghosh and Ramita won silver medal in the team event.
• In the 10m air pistol team women's event, India won silver by defeating South Korea.
• In the men's 10m air Pistol team event final, India lost to Italy and won the silver medal.

Topic: Reports and Indices/Ranking

13. UNDP released a report titled ’Addressing the Cost-of-Living Crisis in Developing Countries’.

• According to this report, the impact of inflation on India’s poor would be negligible.
• In the report, UNDP has assessed the impact of inflation, disruptions in the supply chain due to the Ukraine crisis and Covid on the cost of living. 
• UNDP took three poverty lines at $1.90 per day, $3.30 per day and $5.50 per day.
• In India, inflation will push 0% of the population below the poverty line of $1.90 per day.
• It will push just 0.02% of the population below the poverty line of $3.30 per day.
• Inflation will push just 0.04% of the population below the upper poverty line of $5.50 per day.
• As per the report, rising food prices and energy prices can overall push up to 71 million people into poverty globally.
• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the government’s programmes like Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKAY), played a key role in saving the poor from the impact of high inflation.

Topic: Reports and Indices/Ranking

14. IIT Madras is the overall best institution for higher education in India: NIRF India Ranking 2022

• Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan released the seventh edition of the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) Rankings.
• IIT Madras has topped in the ‘‘Overall’ category for the fourth year while IISc Bengaluru and IIT Bombay are in the second and third spots respectively.
• AIIMS Delhi is the best medical college in India while the National Law School of India University, Bengaluru is the best law school.
• IIM Ahmedabad topped in the ‘Management’ category and IISc Bengaluru topped in the ‘Universities’ category.
• Among the ‘Universities’ category, IISc Bengaluru is followed by JNU and Jamia Millia Islamia in second and third place respectively.
• IIT Madras is the best engineering college and Jamia Hamdard is the best Pharmacy College.
• Miranda House is the best college, followed by Hindu College and Presidency College.
• There are a total of 11 categories under which the Indian universities have been ranked.

(Source: News on AIR)