Daily Current Affairs and GK | 23 and 24 June 2024

Topic: Space and IT

1. China and France launched a satellite to study farthest explosion of stars.

• A jointly developed satellite by China and France was successfully launched on 22 June.
• This satellite has been designed to study farthest explosions of stars.
• The Long March-2C rocket carried this advanced astronomical satellite, it was lifted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province.
• This satellite is equipped with four instruments - two French and two Chinese.
• The satellite mission, named Space Variable Objects Monitor, is the first joint venture in astronomy between China and France.
• The China-France Oceanography Satellite (CFOSat) was launched in 2018.
• In 2011, US imposed a ban on any direct collaboration between NASA and entities based in China.

(Source: DD News)

Topic: National Appointments

2. Pradeep Singh Kharola has replaced Subodh Kumar Singh as new Director General (DG) of National Testing Agency (NTA).

• Pradeep Singh Kharola is a 1985 batch Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer.
• Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved assignment of additional charge of the post of DG, NTA, and Ministry of Education to Pradeep Singh Kharola.
• Kharola is Chairman and Managing Director, India Trade Promotion Organisation.
• He has been given additional charge till appointment of a regular incumbent or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
• National Testing Agency:
  • It was established in November 2017. Pradeep Kumar Joshi is the current chairperson of NTA. 
  • It is an autonomous agency under the Department of Higher Education of the Ministry of Education.
  • It has been established to conduct entrance examinations for admission/fellowship in higher educational institutions.

Topic: Committees/ Commissions/Taskforces

3. A seven-member panel has been notified by Ministry of Education to reform process of competitive exams.

• Former ISRO chief K. Radhakrishnan will head the high-level committee of experts.
• The committee has been formed to ensure transparent, smooth and fair conduct of examinations through the National Testing Agency (NTA).
• The committee will give recommendations on reforms in the mechanism of the examination process, structure and functioning of the NTA and improvement in data security protocols.
• The committee will give its report to the Ministry of Education within two months.
• Other six members of the committee are given below.
  • Former AIIMS-Delhi director Randeep Guleria
  • University of Hyderabad Vice-Chancellor BJ Rao
  • Professor emeritus in IIT-Madras' Department of Civil Engineering K. Ramamurthy
  • People Strong co-founder and Karmayogi Bharat board member Pankaj Bansal
  • IIT-Delhi Dean of Student Affairs Aditya Mittal
  • Education Ministry Joint Secretary Govind Jaiswal

Topic: Indian Economy

4. At its 53^rd meeting, GST Council recommended a uniform GST rate of 12% on all steel, iron, and aluminium milk cans.

• 53rd GST Council meeting was held on 22 June 2024 in New Delhi.
• After meeting, FM Nirmala Sitharaman said that services provided by the Indian Railways to the common man will not attract any GST.
• These services include the sale of platform tickets, facility of retiring rooms and waiting rooms, and battery-operated car services.
• The council has recommended uniform rate of 12% GST on all carton boxes and cases of both corrugated and non-corrugated paper or paperboard.
• This is a step that will benefit the apple growers of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
• Biometric-based Aadhaar authentication will be rolled out on an all-India basis.
• This step will allow the government to combat fraudulent input tax credit claims through fake invoices.
• The council has recommended the extension of time limit to provide details and returns in the form GSTR-4 from 30th April to 30th June. This will help small taxpayers.
• Another recommendation of GST council is waiving of interest and penalties for demand notices that have been issued under Section 73 of the GST Act.
• The Council has recommended monetary limits of Rs 20 lakh for the GST Appellate Tribunal, Rs 1 crore for the High Court and Rs 2 crore for the Supreme Court for filing appeals by the department.
• The maximum pre-deposit amount for submitting an appeal before the appellate body has been recommended by the Council to be lowered from 25 crore rupees CGST and 25 crore rupees SGST to 20 crore rupees CGST and 20 crore rupees SGST.

Topic: Space and IT

5. Third and final 'Pushpak' reusable launch vehicle landing experiment was successfully carried out by ISRO.

• On June 23, the Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO, said that the third and final landing experiment of its reusable launch vehicle 'Pushpak' was successful.
• The landing experiment was conducted at the Aeronautical Test Range in Chitradurga, Karnataka.
• RLV LEX-03 (Reusable Launch Vehicle Landing Experiment 3) re-demonstrated autonomous landing capability under more severe wind conditions.
• The reusable launch vehicle Pushpak released by the Chinook helicopter at an altitude of 4.5 kilometres from the runway.
• After aerial launch, Pushpak automatically performed cross-range correction manoeuvres and approached the runway and made a precise horizontal landing on the runway centre line.
• The Pushpak took off at a speed of 320 kmph on the runway, while a normal fighter aircraft's speed is 280 kmph, because it had a lower lift-to-drag ratio.
• Pushpak used multi-sensor fusion which included inertial sensors, radar altimeter, flush air data system, pseudolight system and navigation system.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: MoUs and Agreements

6. The draft of the logistics agreement to be signed by Russia with India approved.

• After being stalled for several years, the India-Russia Reciprocal Exchange of Logistics Agreement (RELOS) is set to be concluded, with Russia approving the draft pact last week.
• The agreement will facilitate military exchanges for exercises, training, port visits and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) efforts.
• India also has similar agreements with the United States, France, South Korea, Singapore, Australia and Japan.
• On June 20, an official order approving the signing of the logistics agreement with India was posted on Russia's official legal information website.
• The agreement will be valid for five years and will renew automatically unless either party notifies the other party of its desire to terminate it.
• This proposed logistics agreement will continue the long-standing military relationship between Russia and India.
• Both countries signed a comprehensive agreement for military-technical cooperation in 2021, and it concludes in 2030.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

7. FTI-TTP has been inaugurated at Terminal 3 of Indira Gandhi International Airport.

• Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated the ‘Fast Track Immigration – Trusted Traveller Programme (FTI-TTP)’.
• The goal of the FTI-TTP is to streamline international travel by creating world-class immigration facilities and providing a streamlined process for international travellers who are screened using automated e-Gates.
• All travellers would have free access to this facility.
• FTI-TTP is an initiative of central government that is designed to benefit Indian citizens and OCI cardholders.
• Using e-Gates, the FTI-TTP guarantees quicker, more efficient, and safer immigration clearance.
• Its implementation will be carried out in two phases. Indian citizens and OCI cardholders will be covered in the first phase. Foreign travelers will be included in the second phase.
• Nationwide, FTI-TTP will be implemented at 21 major airports.
• Its introduction will start with Delhi and include Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kochi, and Ahmedabad in the first phase.
• An online portal will be used to operate the FTI-TTP. The nodal agency will be the Bureau of Immigration.
• Applicants must register online with their information and the required documents in order to enrol.
• A White List of "Trusted Travellers" will be generated for usage at e-Gates following verification.
• At the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) or when travelling through an airport, biometrics will be taken.
• The registration is valid for five years or until the passport expires, whichever is earlier. After that, it can be renewed.
• Registered travellers will scan their passports and boarding passes as soon as they arrive at the e-Gates, and their biometrics will be verified.
• The e-Gate will open automatically after verification, allowing for immigration clearance.

Topic: Sports

8. Four officers from India’s Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) won a record 32 medals.

• They won these medals at the 43rd World Medical and Health Games.
• The games were held in Saint-Tropez, France, from June 16 to 23, 2024. 
• The event is often called the Olympic Games for Health Professionals.
• Lt Col Sanjeev Malik, Maj Anish George, Capt Stephen Sebastian, and Capt Dania James have shown outstanding performances.
• The 32 medals include 19 gold medals, 9 silver medals, and 4 bronze medals.
• Lt Col Sanjeev Malik won five gold medals in the above 35 years male category.
• Maj Anish George won four gold, six silver, and two bronze medals in the under 35 years male category.
• Capt Stephen Sebastian got six gold medals in the under 35 years male category.
• Capt Dania James won four gold, three silver, and two bronze medals in the under 35 years female category.
• The World Medical and Health Games were established in 1978.
• Each year, over 2,500 participants from more than 50 nations take part in the games.

Topic: Reports and Indices/Ranking

9. India dropped to the 15th spot in 2023 from the 8th position in 2022 in terms of FDI inflows.

• Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows to India declined by 43% in 2023 to $28 billion.
• India remained in the top five for both kinds of FDI—greenfield projects and international project finance deals.
• In 2022, India’s FDI inflows had risen by 10 per cent to $49 billion.
• India emerged as the fourth-largest host country for Greenfield project announcements in 2023.
• France, Australia, China, the US and India registered the largest absolute drops in FDI inflows.
• As per the UNCTAD, developed countries were strongly affected by the financial transactions of multinational enterprises.
• In Asia, FDI fell by 8 per cent to $621 billion. China remains the second-largest FDI recipient in the world.
• India along with Bangladesh, China, Singapore and Thailand released policies for supporting the banking industry.

Topic: Environment and Ecology

10. IUCN changed Iberian lynx’s status to ‘vulnerable’ from ‘endangered’.

• The Iberian Lynx (Lynx pardinus) conservation status has been changed from ‘Endangered’ to ‘Vulnerable’ on June 20.
• The Iberian Lynx is mainly found in Spain and Portugal. Its population has increased from 62 individuals in 2001 to 648 in 2022.
• At present, young and mature lynx is estimated to be more than 2,000.
• Its genetic diversity has been expanded through translocations and an ex-situ breeding programme.
• More than Iberian lynx have been reintroduced at different locations in Portugal and Spain.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

11. In a global competition, IIIT-Delhi project on antimicrobial resistance won a joint second prize.

• A project from Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, Delhi (IIIT-Delhi) has jointly won second prize in the second competition of the Trinity Challenge on tackling the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
• "OASIS: OneHealth Antimicrobial Stewardship for Informal Health Systems," a project also from India that shared second place with the IIIT-Delhi project.
• The Trinity Challenge is a charity that supports the creation of data-driven solutions to protect against global health threats.
• In partnership with CHRI-PATH, 1mg.com, and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Tavpritesh Sethi of IIIT-Delhi led the project, "AMRSense: Empowering Communities with a Proactive One Health Ecosystem."
• Over the next three years, each joint second prize winner will receive £6,00,000 in funding .
• All winners will also benefit from ongoing post-award innovation and scaling support.
• AMRSense addresses the challenges of engaging, motivating, and training community health workers (CHWs) in AMR surveillance and management, which are further complicated by the lack of a comprehensive data ecosystem and analytics capabilities.

Topic: Important Days

12. United Nations Public Service Day 2024: June 23

• Every year on June 23, United Nations Public Service Day is celebrated.
• The day is a poignant reminder of the vital role of public service in promoting community development and welfare.
• This year, the theme of United Nations Public Service Day is 'Fostering Innovation amid Global Challenges: a Public Sector Perspective.'
• The United Nations General Assembly formally declared June 23 to be Public Service Day on December 20, 2002.
• The United Nations Economic and Social Council established the United Nations Public Service Awards, which are awarded on Public Service Day.
• These awards honour individuals and organisations for outstanding contributions to enhancing the role, prestige and visibility of public service.

Topic: India and its Neighbours

13. India announced a medical e-visa facility for Bangladesh citizens.

• India and Bangladesh signed 10 pacts on defence, digital partnership, maritime cooperation etc.
• India would also start a medical e-visa facility for Bangladesh citizens.
• India will also open a new consulate in Rangpur, Bangladesh for people in the northwestern region of the country.
• India and Bangladesh signed agreements on digital partnership, green partnership, maritime cooperation and blue economy, space cooperation, railway connectivity, oceanography, defence and strategic operation studies, etc.
• This is the first incoming bilateral state visit by a foreign leader after the formation of the new government.
• To review the protection and management of the Teesta River in Bangladesh, a technical team will also travel to Bangladesh.
• Bangladesh is crucial for India's Neighbourhood First policy, Act East Policy, Vision SAGAR, and Indo-Pacific vision
• The sixth rail link between India and Bangladesh has started between Jakhoda and Agartala.
• Bharat-Bangladesh Maitri Satellite will also enhance the relationship between both countries.
• Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina was on a two-day visit to India.

Topic: International News

14. Tajikistan government passed a bill to ban hijab and other traditional Islamic clothing.

• Tajikistan parliament's upper house, Majlisi Milli, passed a law to ban hijab and other traditional Islamic clothing.
• The bill was passed was also passed by the lower chamber, the Majlisi Namoyandagon.
• Tajikistan has officially banned the Islamic Hijab after years of it being unofficially restricted.
• The Tajik government started removing the hijab in 2007 when the Ministry of Education prohibited both Islamic attire and Western-style miniskirts for students.
• The Tajik government has promoted traditional Tajik clothing through a campaign in recent years.