Daily Current Affairs and GK | 27 August 2021

By PendulumEdu | Last Modified: 27 Aug 2021 19:07 PM IST

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Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

1. Government announced Drone Rules 2021.

  • Union Ministry of Civil Aviation notified Drone Rules 2021. The government has decided to replace UAS Rules, 2021 with the liberalized Drone Rules, 2021.
  • The new Drone Rules will help start-ups and youth working in this sector. It will open up new possibilities for innovation & business.
  • Drones are very helpful in many sectors like agriculture, mining, infrastructure, transportation, etc. India is aiming to become global drone hub by 2030.
  • Key features of Drone Rules 2021:
    • Coverage of drones has been increased from 300 kg to 500 kg; it includes drone taxis also.
    • Testing of drones for issuance of Type Certificate to be carried out by Quality Council of India or authorized testing entities.
    • Drone corridors will be developed for cargo deliveries. Drone promotion council will be set up by Government.  
    • DGCA will prescribe drone training requirements, oversee drone schools and provide pilot licenses online.
    • There will be no restriction on foreign ownership in Indian drone companies. Manufacturers and importers may generate their drones’ unique identification number on the digital sky platform through the self-certification route.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

2. Jal Shakti Ministry launched a campaign to create more ODF plus villages.

  • The Jal Shakti Ministry started a 100-day campaign ‘Sujalam’ to create more ODF plus villages across the country.
  • The Campaign has started on 25th August 2021 and will continue for the next 100 days.
  • The campaign will develop wastewater management at the village level by creating 1 million Soak-pits.
  • The disposal of wastewater and clogging of water bodies in the villages is one of the main challenges in making a village open defection free.
  • The Campaign will increase awareness about ODF-plus activities and it will ensure that all newly constructed houses in the village have toilets.

Jal Shakti Ministry launched a campaign to create more ODF plus villages

(Source: PIB)

 

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

3. Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology launches SAMRIDH programme.

  • Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) has launched Start-up Accelerators of MeitY for pRoduct Innovation, Development and growth (SAMRIDH) programme.
  • The programme has been launched to create a conducive platform to Indian Software Product start-ups to enhance their products and securing investments for scaling their business.
  • MeitY Start-up Hub (MSH) is implementing the programme. The programme will focus on accelerating the 300 start-ups by providing customer connect, investor connect, and international immersion in next three years.
  • The programme aims to further extend the Indian start-up growth, which has seen the emergence of 63 Unicorns.
  • India is now the third largest Unicorn hub globally with a total valuation of 168 Billion USD. A startup company that is valued at more than $1 billion is called a unicorn.

Topic: Reports and Indices

4. GUAREX – India’s First Agri Sectoral Index launched by NCDEX.

  • GUAREX – India’s First Agri Sectoral Index has been launched by National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange Limited (NCDEX).
  • GUAREX is a price based sectoral index. It tracks the movement in the futures contracts of guar gum refined splits and guar seed on a real-time basis.
  • It will offer a lot of opportunities to value chain participants in terms of risk management as well as various trading strategies.
  • NCDEX had earlier launched the indicative or spot contracts for NCDEX GUAREX on July 5, 2021.

National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange Ltd (NCDEX):

It was formed in 2003 as a public limited company.

It is an online commodity exchange platform.

It brings buyers and sellers together through its electronic trading platform.

Topic: Summits/ Conferences/ Meetings

5. Nirmala Sitharaman chaired 2nd meeting of BRICS Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors.

  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman chaired the second meeting of BRICS Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG).
  • Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of Brazil, Russia, China, and South Africa participated in this meeting.
  • This meeting has been organized ahead of BRICS Leaders’ Summit 2021 to discuss and finalize key outcomes of the BRICS finance agenda of this year.
  • BRICS Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors discussed areas of intra-BRICS cooperation for the recovery of BRICS economies.
  • During this meeting, a “Technical Report on Social Infrastructure: Financing and Use of Digital Technologies” was also approved.
  • BRICS Finance Ministers welcomed the conclusion of negotiations on the text of Cooperation and Mutual Administrative Assistance (CMAA) in Customs matters.
  • In this meeting, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das chaired the discussion on Central Bank issues.
  • The 13th BRICS Summit will take place on 9th September under the chairmanship of India.

Nirmala Sitharaman chaired 2nd meeting of BRICS Finance Ministers

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: State News/ Karnataka

6. Karnataka Government to form a committee for doubling farmers’ income.

  • Karnataka Government will form a Committee to create a strategy for doubling farmers’ income.
  • The committee will be headed by state Agriculture Minister B C Patil. It will recommend ways to make seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides easily available to the farmers.
  • The committee will create a strategy based on climatic conditions, agricultural practices, and landholding patterns of the farmers.
  • A Secondary Agriculture Directorate will be also established for integrating farming, horticulture, dairy, animal husbandry, cottage industries, and food processing.
  • Agriculture Universities will also suggest ways to increase farmer’s income and will provide remedies of farmers’ problems.
  • The central government has set a target of doubling farmers’ income by the year 2022. The committee on doubling farmers’ income at the national level is headed by Ashok Dalwai.

Topic: Defence

7. Coast Guard patrol vessel Vigraha to be commissioned by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in Chennai.

  • Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will commission Coast Guard patrol vessel Vigraha in Chennai on August 28.
  • It is the seventh patrol vessel in the series of Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) constructed by Larsen & Toubro. It has been designed and built indigenously.
  • It is equipped with advanced technology radars, navigation and communication equipment, sensor, and machinery.
  • It is armed with a 40/60 Bofors gun and fitted with two 12.7 mm stabilized remote control guns (SRCG).
  • Integrated bridge system (IBS), Integrated platform management system (IPMS), and Automated power management system (APMS) are the unique features of this patrol vessel.
  • It can carry one twin-engine helicopter and four high-speed boats for different operations. It can also carry pollution response equipment to contain oil spills at sea.

Coast Guard patrol vessel Vigraha 

(News on AIR)

Topic: National News

8. NITI Aayog collaborated with Cisco to promote women entrepreneurship in India.

  • NITI Aayog, the Government's think tank, collaborated with Cisco to promote women entrepreneurship in India.
  • NITI Aayog and Cisco launched the next phase of the Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) titled "WEP Nxt".
  • WEPNxt will focus on community and networking, skilling and mentorship, incubation and acceleration programs, and financial, compliance, and marketing assistance to support women entrepreneurs of India.
  • In India, women only constitute 13.76% of the total entrepreneurs. Women entrepreneurs can create 170 million jobs by 2030 and could increase GDP by 1.5%.

Women Entrepreneurship Platform:

It was launched by NITI Aayog in 2017.

It brings together women from diverse backgrounds and offers them access to a multitude of resources, support, and learning.

It is a unified information portal for women entrepreneurs.

At present, it hosts over 16,000 registered users and 30 partners.

Topic: Books and Authors

9. Boria Majumdar and Kushan Sarkar authored a book titled “Mission Domination: An Unfinished Quest”.

  • A new book titled “Mission Domination: An Unfinished Quest” written by Boria Majumdar and Kushan Sarkar has been unveiled on 20 August 2021.
  • It has been published by Simon & Schuster Publisher India Private Limited.
  • Boria Majumdar is one of India’s most influential commentators. He is currently working as Editor, Sport, India Today Group.
  • He also authored many other books such as “Olympics: The India Story” and “Playing It My Way—Sachin Tendulkar’s autobiography”.
  • “Mission Domination: An Unfinished Quest” gives a glimpse of several Indian cricketer’s life events. It also describes the story that how India won the series after getting all out on 36 runs in Adelaide.

Topic: Banking System

10. The scope of tokenisation extended to laptops and wearable devices.

  • The scope of tokenisation has been extended by RBI to laptops, desktops, wearables like wristwatches and bands, as well as Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
  • Earlier, RBI had allowed tokenization services on mobile phones and tablets of cardholders.
  • RBI had issued guidelines on "Tokenisation - Card transactions" in January 2019.
  • According to RBI, the volume of tokenised card transactions has increased in recent months.
  • Tokenisation refers to the replacement of actual card details with a unique alternate code called the 'token', which is unique for a combination of card, token requestor and identified device. It aims at improving the safety and security of the payment system.

Topic: Indian Polity

11. Supreme Court to get nine new judges.

  • Supreme Court will get nine judges as the government has notified their appointments after President’s approval.
  • Justice B.V. Nagarathna of the Karnataka High Court is one among the nine names recommended by Supreme Court Collegium.
  • Justice B.V. Nagarathna is likely to become the first woman Chief Justice of India (CJI) in September 2027. The other eight names are given in the following table.

Karnataka High Court Chief Justice AS Oka

Gujarat High Court Chief Justice Vikram Nath

Sikkim High Court Chief Justice Jitendra Kumar Maheshwari

Telangana High Court Chief Justice Hima Kohli

Kerala High Court judge CT Ravi Kumar

Madras High Court judge MM Sundersh

Senior advocate and former Additional Solicitor General PS Narasimha

Gujarat High Court judge Bela M Trivedi

 

  • Supreme Court currently functions with only 24 judges. With the appointment of nine new judges, the working strength of SC will go up to 33 against sanctioned strength of 34.
  • Only one post will be vacant. On 26 August, President has signed warrants of the appointment of nine judges to the Supreme Court.
  • The appointments will take effect from the date the judges assume charge of their respective offices. The new judges are likely to be sworn in on Monday.
  • President of India appoints judges of the Supreme Court. In order to be appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court, a person should be a citizen of India.
  • Additionally, he should have been a judge of a High Court for 5 years, an advocate of a High Court for ten years, or a distinguished jurist in the opinion of the president.

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

12. Civil Aviation Ministry signs MoU with Adani group for providing services at Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram airports.

  • Civil Aviation Ministry has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Adani group for providing services at Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram airports.
  • An agreement for providing communication navigation surveillance-air traffic management (CNS-ATM) services at these three airports was also signed between Adani Enterprises and the Airports Authority of India.
  • In February 2019, six major airports (Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Mangaluru, Jaipur, Thiruvananthapuram and Guwahati) were privatized by the centre.
  • Adani group had won rights to run all of them for 50 years. It took charge of Lucknow, Ahmedabad and Mangaluru airports in October and November last year.
 

 

 

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