Daily Current Affairs and GK | 27 August 2021

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 25^th 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.

(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.

Topic: Summits/ Conferences/ Meetings

5. Nirmala Sitharaman chaired 2^nd 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 13^th BRICS Summit will take place on 9^th September under the chairmanship of India.

(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.

(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%.

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.

• 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.