Daily Current Affairs and GK | 27 July 2022

Topic: Infrastructure and Energy

1. Ministry of Power is organizing the ‘Ujjwal Bharat- Ujjwal Bhavishi’ festival.

• ‘Ujjwal Bharat- Ujjwal Bhavishi’ festival is a series of Bijli Mahotsav to celebrate reforms in the power sector.
• Andhra Pradesh is the best state in implementing various Central schemes in the power sector.
• Ujjwal Bharat Ujjwal Bhavishya – Power @2047 event will be organized in Visakhapatnam on 30 July.
• Government through various schemes like Integrated Power Development Scheme, Deendayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojana and Saubhagya Yojana ensure that electricity reaches every corner of the country.
• Indian grid is the world’s largest integrated grid with an interregional transfer capacity of 112250 MW.
• Reforms in the power sector are given below:
  • 2,950 new sub-stations have been added and 3,950 old substations have been upgraded in recent times.
  • As of March 2022, 40 lakh smart meters have been installed under the National Smart Grid Mission (NSGM).
  • India’s rank in World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business – “Getting Electricity” ranking has improved to 22 from 137.
  • SCADA control centre identifies disruptions in power supply and rectifies issues in a timely manner.

Topic: Sports

2. India will host the 2025 ICC Women’s ODI World Cup.

• The International Cricket Council (ICC) has selected four countries to host the ICC Women's World Cup from 2024 to 2027.
• These four countries are India, Bangladesh, England and Sri Lanka.
• Bangladesh will host the 2024 Women’s T20 World Cup. Its 2026 edition will be held in England.
• Sri Lanka will host the Women's T20 Champions Trophy in 2027 but it will depend on whether it qualifies for the competition.
• 2022 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup was held in New Zealand in March and April.

Topic: Defence

3. Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has approved arms procurement proposals worth 28 thousand 732 crore rupees.

• DAC headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh gave approval under Buy Indian Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured (IDDM) category.
• The proposals approved by the DAC include three proposals from the Indian Army. These three proposals have a total value of Rs 8,599 crore.
• DAC accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for Bullet Proof Jackets with Indian Standard BIS VI level of protection.
• AoN for induction of approximately four lakhs of Close Quarter Battle Carbines for the Services has also been accorded by the DAC.
• AoN for procurement of Autonomous Surveillance and Armed Drone Swarms has also been accorded by the DAC.
• DAC also approved the Navy’s proposal to procure an upgraded 1250 Kilo Watt capacity Marine Gas Turbine Generator for power generation application onboard Kolkata class of ships through Indian Industry.

Topic: State News/Karnataka

4. Karnataka Health Minister Dr. K Sudhakar inaugurated India’s first brain health clinic in Bengaluru.

• The clinic has been inaugurated under the Karnataka Brain Health Initiative (Ka-BHI) at Jayanagar General Hospital.
• The clinic has been inaugurated on the occasion of World Brain Day.
• Two more brain health clinics will open in Chikkaballapura and Kolar districts.
• Ka-BHI was launched in January as a joint endeavor of Nimhans and the Department of Health and Family Welfare.
• Cricketer Robin Uthappa is Karnataka Brain Health Initiative (Ka-BHI) ambassador.
• National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences (NIMHANS) is located in Bangalore. 

Topic: Environment and Ecology

5. Five Indian wetlands are added to the Ramsar site list as wetlands of international importance.

• With these five new additions, there are now a total of 54 Ramsar sites in the country.
• The newly added sites are given below:
• On World Wetlands Day 2022, Lonar Lake in Maharashtra and Keetham lake in Uttar Pradesh were added to Ramsar sites.
• The Ramsar wetlands of India cover 11,000 sq km, or around 10% of the nation's total wetland area, and are spread across 18 States.
• The United Kingdom (175) and Mexico (142) have the highest number of Ramsar sites in the world.
• Bolivia has the largest area under convention protection, with 148,000 km.
• Chilka lake was the first Indian wetland added to the Ramsar site list in 1981.
• Ramsar Convention:
  • Ramsar sites are declared under the Ramsar Convention, which was established by UNESCO in 1971 and came into force in 1975.
  • The main objective of the Ramsar list is to develop and maintain an international network of wetlands important for the conservation of global biological diversity.
  • It provides the framework for the conservation and wise use of all wetlands through local and national actions and cooperation.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: International News

6. Russia will withdraw from the International Space Station project after 2024.

• The decision was announced by Yuri Borisov, the newly appointed head of Moscow's space agency Roscosmos.
• Russia's announcement came after tensions between the Kremlin and the West over Moscow's military operation in Ukraine and several unprecedented sanctions against Russia.
• Since 1998, Russia and the United States worked together on the International space station.
• Soviet space program's major achievements are the launch of the first satellite in 1957 and the sending of the first man into space in 1961.
• Roscosmos:
  • It is the Russia Aviation and Space Agency established in 1992.
  • It is the successor of the Soviet space program.
  • It is headquartered in Moscow.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: National News

7. The auction of the 5G spectrum started on 26 July 2022.

• The winning bidders will receive the spectrum in order to offer 5G services to the general public and businesses.
• A total of over 72,000 MHz spectrum is being auctioned with a validity of 20 years.
• Spectrum in several Low, Medium, and High-frequency bands is being auctioned.
• Telecom service providers will use the spectrum to launch 5G technology-based services that have speeds and capacities that are approximately 10 times higher than those of the existing 4G services.
• Eighty-crore subscribers have access to broadband today compared to ten crore subscribers in 2014. 
• 5G is the fifth-generation technology standard for broadband cellular networks. Cellular phone companies began deploying worldwide it in 2019.
• 5G is faster than existing networks and has higher bandwidth.

Topic: Indian Economy

8. IMF has lowered India’s FY23 GDP growth forecast to 7.4%.

• In its latest World Economic Outlook report, it cut the global growth forecast to 3.2% for 2022 from 6.1% in 2021.
• IMF raised global inflation to 6.6% in advanced economies and 9.5% in emerging market and developing economies.
• IMF expects India’s economy to grow 6.1% in FY24.
• IMF said the revision in India’s FY23 GDP growth forecast reflects mainly less favorable external conditions and more rapid policy tightening.
• The IMF reported that the growth forecast of China was reduced by 1.1 percentage points to 3.3% for 2022 as a result of additional lockdowns and the worsening real estate crisis.
• IMF said global trade growth would likely slow to 4.1% in 2022 from 10.1% in 2021.

Topic: Banking System

9. ECGC launched a new scheme to provide credit risk insurance cover up to 90% to small exporters.

• Export Credit Risk Insurance cover of up to 90% will be provided to small exporters under ‘Export Credit Insurance for Banks’ (Entire Turnover Packaging Credit and Post Shipment) (ECIB-WTPC, PS).
• This is expected to benefit many small-scale exporters availing export credit from banks having ECGC WT-ECIB cover.
• It will help exporters to explore new markets and diversify their product portfolio.
• The manufacturer- exporters availing of the fund-based export credit working capital limit of up to ₹ 20 crores will get the benefit of the enhanced cover. It excludes Gems, Jewellery & Diamond sector and merchant exporters/traders.
• This will increase the percentage of accounts up to Rs 20 crore, which will provide further stability to the ECGC portfolio.
• It will enable banks holding ECGC’s WT-ECIB cover to further reduce interest rates.
• ECGC Limited:
  • It is a government-owned export credit provider and was set up in 1957.
  • Its main objective is to promote exports by providing credit risk insurance and related services for exports.
  • It was formerly known as Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India Ltd.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: State News/ Rajasthan

10. India’s first all-women-run cooperative bank will be set up in Rajasthan.

• It will be established on the lines of the Stree Nidhi model of Telangana.
• Rajasthan government has also signed an MoU with the Telangana government’s Stree Nidhi Credit Cooperative Federation.
• The Rajasthan Mahila Nidhi will be established along the same lines as the Telangana Stree Nidhi. It will empower self-help groups in the state by providing timely loan facilities.
• This cooperative bank will be operated entirely by women and will act as a complementary body to the formal banking system.
• It will also reduce the number of loan applications pending in the banks. During the first two years of its operations, it will get a grant of ₹50 crores from the State government.
• Mahila Nidhi will include all of Rajeevika's cluster-level federations as members.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

11. Orang National Park & Tiger Reserve received the 2^nd Annual IUCN WCPA International Ranger Award 2022.

• The award has been given by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA).
• Orang National Park & Tiger Reserve has been awarded for its efforts to protect wild places and wildlife and to support local communities.
• The award was presented at the IUCN African Protected Areas Congress in Kigali, Rwanda.
• This year, seven individual rangers and three ranger teams have been awarded. Additionally, two rangers who work in tiger-inhabited areas were given special prizes.
• Orang National Park:
  • It is spread over an area of 79.28 km².
  • It is the oldest wildlife reserve in Assam and is also known as the mini Kaziranga National Park.
  • It was established as a sanctuary in 1985 and declared a national park in 1999.
• International Ranger Award:
  • It was established to recognize the courage and commitment of forest rangers.
  • The individual winner or winning team gets US$10,000 to support the conserved areas in which they work.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

12. Government revealed the latest statistics related to ‘DIKSHA’ on 25 July.

• ‘DIKSHA’ (Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing) has QR-coded textbooks and various specialized e-Contents for classes 1-12 in 33 languages.
• Along with NCERT, CBSE and the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) 35 states and UTs have their own vertical on ‘DIKSHA’.
• As of 14 July, total learning sessions on ‘Diksha’ reached over 495 crores. A total of 6,477 Energized Textbooks have been developed by states/UTs and NCERT.
• DIKSHA provides several online courses to develop the skills of the teachers and school heads. 15 Crore enrolments have been made in different courses on DIKSHA.
• More than 47 lakh teachers have received the benefits of NISHTHA and Continuous Professional Development (CPD) courses through the DIKSHA Platform.
• PM e-Vidya initiative help students of rural and educationally backward districts through the DIKSHA platform.
• DIKSHA is a national platform for school education. It is an initiative of the National Council of Educational Research and Training.

Topic: National News

13. IIT Madras is planning to set up a campus in Tanzania.

• IIT Madras has also received requests from other African countries, Nepal and Sri Lanka to set up campuses for offering courses in data sciences, artificial intelligence and energy systems.
• A 16-member committee headed by Dr K Radhakrishnan is creating a roadmap for the expansion of IIT Madras.
• IIT Madras can offer country-specific courses and the institute may offer both UG and PG courses on its offshore campus.
• IIT Madras has earlier launched interdisciplinary MTech programmes for foreign students.
• IIT Madras also signed MoU with Kathmandu University to offer an MTech course in the energy system.
• Tanzania:
  • It is a country in East Africa that shares its border with Uganda (north), Kenya (northeast), Comoro Islands and Indian Ocean (east), Mozambique and Malawi (south), Zambia (southwest), Rwanda, Burundi, and Democratic Republic of Congo (west).
  • Africa’s highest mountain, Mt. Kilimanjaro, is located in Tanzania.
  • Lake Victoria, Lake Tanganayika and Lake Malawi lies partly in this country.
  • Capital of Tanzania: Dodoma
  • Currency of Tanzania: Tanzanian shilling
  • President of Tanzania: Samia Suluhu Hassan
  • Prime Minister of Tanzania: Kassim Majaliwa

Topic: Indian Polity

14. Supreme Court expanded the ambit of the right to privacy and the right to be forgotten.

• In an order, Supreme Court has asked its registry to find out a mechanism which allows removing the details of a couple from search engines and the Internet.
• The apex court passed the order on a plea by the estranged wife, who said that the availability of her name, address and other personal information on the internet infringes her ‘right to be forgotten’.
• The bench said that her personal information should either be deleted or masked from the judgment of her case on the SC website or from different online platforms.
• The right to be forgotten allows a person to seek deletion of private information from the Internet. It was acknowledged by the Supreme Court in its 2017 landmark judgment.
• In 2021, Kerala High Court also allowed the deletion of personal details from a Google search result.
• At present, the Information Technology Act 2000, does not give legitimacy to the right to be forgotten.
• Personal Data Protection Bill contains the doctrine of the ‘right to be forgotten’.
• In the K S Puttaswamy judgment (2017), the right to privacy has been recognised as an intrinsic part of the Right to Life and Personal Liberty under Article 21.