Daily Current Affairs and GK | 22 August 2024

Topic: Space and IT

1. Scientists discovered liquid water on Mars for the first time.

• As per a new study, there could be Oceans of liquid water inside the rocky outer crust of Mars.
• This is the first time that scientists have discovered liquid water on the planet.
• ‘Liquid water in the Martian mid-crust’ study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
• This layer is situated at depths of about 10 to 20 km in the Martian crust.
• The study predicts that water could have seeped from the surface billions of years ago when Mars have rivers, lakes, and possibly oceans.
• This finding would help researchers understand the water cycle of Mars in a better way.
• The discovery would also give impetus to the ongoing search for evidence of life on Mars.
• The researchers used the data from NASA’s Mars Insight Lander, which landed on Mars in 2018.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

2. Rohit Sharma received the 'Men's International Cricketer of the Year' award at the Ceat Cricket Rating Awards 2023–24.

• India captain Rohit Sharma has been named the 'Men's International Cricketer of the Year' at the Ceat Cricket Rating Awards 2023–24.
• Virat Kohli was named the 'Men's ODI Batter of the Year' while Mohammed Shami has been named the 'ODI Bowler of the Year'.
• Rahul Dravid has received the 'Lifetime Achievement Award' at the Ceat Cricket Rating Awards 2023–24.
•  Yashasvi Jaiswal has received the 'Men's Test Batter of the Year' award, while R. Ashwin has been named the 'Men's Test Bowler of the Year'.
• Tamil Nadu captain R Sai Kishore received the 'Domestic cricketer of the Year' award.
• New Zealand's Tim Southee received the 'Men'' T20I Bowler of the Year' award.
• England's Phil Salt has been adjudged the 'Best Batter of the Year' in T-20 format.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

3. RGIA Hyderabad won the Best Airport Award for the third consecutive year.

• Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) has once again won the coveted title of Best Airport at the India Travel Awards, its third consecutive win.
• This award is a testament to the airport’s excellence, and recognises our commitment to creative social media engagement and exceptional airline support.
• In 2023, RGIA was also awarded the Skytrax 'Best Airport Staff in India & South Asia 2024' award in Frankfurt, Germany.
• Rajiv Gandhi International Airport:
• It is an international airport serving Hyderabad, the capital of the Indian state of Telangana.
• Opened on March 23, 2008, this airport is located in Shamshabad, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
• It is the largest airport in India in terms of area, having been constructed across 5,500 acres (2,200 ha).
• In December 2015, it became the first airport in India to introduce domestic e-boarding facilities and international e-boarding facilities in October 2020.

Topic: National Appointments

4. On August 22, Senior IAS officer Govind Mohan took charge as the new Union Home Secretary.

• He replaced Ajay Kumar Bhalla, who has completed his five-year term in the post.
• Before being appointed to the second-highest bureaucratic post after the Cabinet Secretary, Mohan was serving as Union Culture Secretary.
• Mohan has already been appointed as Officer on Special Duty in the Union Home Ministry.
• As Union Culture Secretary, Mohan has successfully launched two flagship programs of the Modi government: ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ and ‘Har Ghar Tiranga movement’.
• ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ is an initiative to celebrate and commemorate 75 years of the country's independence and the glorious history of its people, culture and achievements.
• Under the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga movement’, hoisting of the national flag in every household, 'Tiranga Yatras', 'Tiranga' rallies, and 'Tiranga' runs are the major initiatives.

Topic: Space and IT

5. Chandrayaan's Pragyan rover presented evidence of the magma ocean on the moon.

• As part of India's historic Chandrayaan-3 mission, the rover spent two weeks studying the lunar soil and sent valuable scientific data back to Earth in anticipation of many discoveries.
• This included recording the presence of sulfur to confirming the presence of some small rock fragments around the crater rims near Shiva Shakti Bindu.
• The rover had already met all the expectations of ISRO and accomplished its scientific goals.
• On August 21, the Chandrayaan-3 team reported perhaps its most important discovery yet, shedding light on the origin of the Moon.
• On August 21, in a study published in the journal Nature, the research team reported detecting the presence of a rock called ferroan anorthosite in the lunar soil.
• The consensus among scientists is that these anorthosite rocks may be the remains of an ancient ocean of magma that spread across the surface of the Moon about four billion years ago.
• Ferroan anorthosite rocks are very common on Earth.
• As is the general consensus, the Moon was born from the remnants of a collision between the Earth and some rogue planetary body.
• The Moon's rocky surface was initially molten. As the lava cooled, the minerals in it slowly crystallized to form a variety of rocks, including ferroan anorthosite.

Topic: Economy and Banking

6. World Bank issued the world's first carbon removal bond to raise funds for Amazon reforestation.

• The goal of the new kind of bond is try to save the Amazon rainforest by linking investors’ financial returns to the amount of carbon removed from the atmosphere.
• The World Bank sold a nine-year, $225 million note that will help fund reforestation in the Amazon.
• Unlike previous bonds, buyers' returns will be linked to the climate impact of new trees, rather than avoided emissions through curbing deforestation.
• Investors will receive a fixed guaranteed coupon rate of around 1.745% per annum, which is lower than World Bank ordinary bonds of similar maturity.
• According to the World Bank, Mombak will use these funds to acquire or partner with landowners in the Amazon to replant native tree species on the land.
• Carbon credits produced by the projects, calculated based on the amount of carbon removed by the trees planted, will be sold to Microsoft Corp., which has a purchase agreement with Mombak.
• Bondholders will receive a portion of the revenue generated from that sale through an additional variable coupon linked to the number of credits sold.
• They can expect to earn a total annual yield of 4.362%.

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

7. Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) and Department of Posts have signed a MoU.

• Under the MoU, the employees of the Postal Department will physically verify new units being established all over India under the PMEGP.
• The KVIC will also provide training to the employees for the physical verification process.
• Postal Department’s Deputy General Manager Dr Amanpreet Singh and Deputy CEO of PMEGP Rajan Babu on behalf of KVIC signed MoU.
• Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) is a credit-linked subsidy scheme launched in 2008.
• It is implemented by the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) at the national level.
• It was launched by merging two schemes- Prime Minister's Rojgar Yojana (PMRY) and Rural Employment Generation Programme (REGP).

Topic: Banking System

8. NPCI has introduced UPI Circle- Delegated Payments for secondary users.

• Through the UPI Circle-Delegate Payments feature, a primary UPI user can establish a partial or full delegation link with their trusted secondary users via the UPI App.
• Within the security parameters and procedures, a primary user can grant permission to a reliable secondary user to complete transactions.
• When full delegation is used, the primary user gives permission to a secondary user to start and finish UPI transactions within predetermined spending limits.
• When there is partial delegation, the primary user approves the start of payment requests from secondary users, and the primary user uses the UPI PIN to finish the UPI transaction.
• Up to five secondary users can be delegated by a primary user. Only one primary user's delegation can be accepted by a secondary user.
• Members must ensure a maximum monthly limit of Rs 15,000 per delegation and a maximum per transaction limit of Rs 5000 in order to enable full delegation.
• The current UPI restrictions will apply in the case of partial delegation.
• Members shall ensure that, following the successful linking of primary and secondary users for both complete and partial delegation, a daily transaction limit of Rs 5000 is set during the cooling period (the first 24 hours).
• Members must adhere to RBI regulations regarding "Harmonisation of Turn Around Time" and compensating customers for unsuccessful transactions through permitted payment methods.

Topic: Committees/ Commissions/Taskforces

9. Supreme Court constituted a 10-member national task force to ensure the safety of doctors.

• Supreme Court formed a 10-member national task force (NTF) to frame protocol and ensure the safety of doctors.
• This task force will develop a national protocol to ensure the safety and facilities of healthcare workers at their workplaces.
• The Supreme Court formed this task force after nationwide protests by doctors over the rape and murder of a 31-year-old resident doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
• This task force comprises many senior doctors from different backgrounds.
• The task force will also include four ex-officio members: Cabinet secretary, health secretary, chairperson of the National Medical Commission, and president of the National Board of Examiners.
• The Supreme Court has also ordered a national action plan for preventing gender-based violence.
• The task force will submit its interim report within three weeks and a final report within two months of the order.

Topic: Infrastructure and Energy

10. India’s second 700 MW nuclear power KAPS-4 plant became operational with full capacity.

• India’s second home-built 700 MW nuclear power reactor at Kakrapar Atomic Power Station (KAPS) became fully operational with full capacity.
• Unit 4 of the KAPS plant had been operating at 90% capacity before reaching the full capacity of 700 MWe.
• The KAPS-4 unit started commercial operations on March 31, 2024.
• India is constructing 14 more 700 MW nuclear power reactors of the same design.
• These are expected to commence operations progressively by 2031-32.
• NPCIL is currently operating a fleet of 24 reactors with a total capacity of 8180 MW.

Topic: Personality in News

11. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das became the top central banker for the second consecutive year.

• For the second consecutive year, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das has been given an 'A+' rating in the Global Finance Central Banker Report Cards 2024.

• Along with Shaktikanta Das, Christian Ketel Thomsen of Denmark and Thomas Jordan of Switzerland have been ranked in the 'A+' category of central bankers.
• The grades are based on a scale from A to F for success in inflation control, economic growth targets, currency stability and interest rate management.
• 'A' indicates excellent performance, while 'F' indicates complete failure.
• The Central Banker Report Card has been published annually by Global Finance since 1994.
• It grades central bank governors from nearly 100 countries, territories and districts, including the European Union, the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, the Bank of Central African States and the Central Bank of West African States.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

12. Lata Mangeshkar Award will be presented to K S Chithra and Uttam Singh.

• The Madhya Pradesh government will present the National Lata Mangeshkar Award to renowned musician Uttam Singh and playback singer K.S. Chitra at a function here on September 28.
• The state culture department confers this award every year on Mangeshkar's birth anniversary.
• Uttam Singh will be awarded the Mangeshkar Award for 2022, while Chitra will be awarded the award for 2023.
• For the first time, the awards ceremony will be held in an auditorium built by the state government in memory of Mangeshkar.
• The legendary playback singer Lata Mangeshkar was born in Indore on September 28, 1929, and died in Mumbai on February 6, 2022.
• Established in 1984, the award aims to promote artistic excellence in the field of light music.
• It carries a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh and a citation.

Topic: Summits/ Conferences/ Meetings

13. India-EU regional conference begins in New Delhi.

• A two-day EU-India Track 1.5 Conference started in New Delhi.
• The European Union (EU) and the External Affairs Ministry are organising this conference to address the multifaceted challenges posed by violent extremism in the digital sphere
• It will be organized on August 21-22 in collaboration with the organising partner Global Counter-Terrorism Council.
• Experts, policymakers, academia and law enforcement officials from India, Bangladesh, the Maldives, Sri Lanka and Europe are participating in this conference.
• The main aim of the conference is to enhance counter-terror dialogues and partnerships.
• Topics such as the processes of radicalisation in online spaces will be also discussed in the meeting.

Topic: Art and Culture

14. Union Minister Dr. Virendra Kumar inaugurated the 17th Divya Kala Mela in Raipur.

• This week-long Divya Kala Mela would be focussed on empowering artisans and entrepreneurs with disabilities.
• It is organized by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan).
• 100 Divyang artisans, artists and entrepreneurs from around 20 States/UTs showcased different products showing cultural diversity.
• Visitors get the unique opportunity to explore and purchase handcrafted goods in this mela.
• It also empowers Divyangjan under one roof through the ‘Divya Kala Shakti’ Job Fairs and Loan Mela.
• Under the Divya Kala Shakti cultural programme, artists have shown their abilities in music, dance and drama.