Daily Current Affairs and GK | 27 March 2024

Topic: Reports and Indices

1. International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Institute of Human Development (IHD) have released the India Employment Report 2024.

• As per the report, the share of India’s youth in the unemployed workforce is almost 83%.
• According to the report, the share of youngsters having secondary or higher education in the total unemployed youth has increased from 35.2% in 2000 to 65.7% in 2022.
• Between 2000 and 2019, the youth employment and underemployment has risen. However, it declined during the pandemic years.
• Unemployment levels were higher among the educated youth of the country during the pandemic period.
• A decline was seen in Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Worker Population Ratio (WPR) and the Unemployment Rate (UR) between 2000 and 2018. However, these have improved after 2019.
• Non-farm employment increased at a higher rate than farm employment before 2018.
• The construction and services sectors absorbed the labour from agriculture.
• About 90% of workers are engaged in informal sector. The share of regular work increased steadily after 2000. It declined after 2018.
• As per the report, livelihood insecurities are widespread. Only a small percentage are covered with social protection measures.
• The report noted that 75% of India’s youth are unable to send emails with attachments.
• It also noted that 60% of India’s youth unable to copy and paste files, and 90% of India’s youth unable to put a mathematical formula into a spreadsheet.
• India is also facing the challenge of low rates of female labour force participation.
• As per the report, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are engaged in low-paid temporary casual wage work and informal employment.

Topic: Indian Polity

2. The issue of wealthy people obtaining pre-trial injunctions from courts against the media and civil society has been brought to light by the Supreme Court.

• The issue of wealthy people restricting free expression and public’s right to information about important affairs was also brought up by the Supreme Court.
• A three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice, D.Y. Chandrachud, stated that when issuing pre-trial interim injunctions, the courts should proceed with caution.
• The bench also comprised Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra.
• It emphasized that the importance of safeguarding journalistic expression under the constitution cannot be understated.
• The bench brought attention to the growing trend of "SLAPP suits," or "Strategic Litigation against Public Participation,".
• This term describes lawsuits that are mostly brought against members of the media or civil society by organizations with significant financial power.
• These litigations are taken in an effort to keep the public from knowing about or taking part in significant matters that are in the public interest.
• Courts should only grant pre-trial injunctions in extraordinary circumstances, according to the Bench.
• The Supreme Court advised judges to apply the three-fold criteria before granting a pre-trial injunction over a journalistic article.
• The three-fold criteria should include establishing a prima facie case, examining the balance of convenience and determining if the petitioner will suffer irreversible loss or harm in a defamation case.
• Based on an appeal filed by Bloomberg Television Production Services, the Supreme Court made the order.
• The Supreme Court stated that the author's right to free speech and the public's right to know could be seriously affected by the issuance of a pre-trial injunction to prevent the publishing of an article.
• Article 19 of Constitution of India provides Right to freedom of speech and expression. It is a fundamental right granted in the Constitution.

Topic: National Appointments

3. Abhay Thakur has been appointed India’s ambassador to Myanmar.

• He is a 1992-batch officer of the Indian Foreign Service (IFS).
• He had served as sous-sherpa of the G20 process during India’s presidency of G20.
• At present, he is an Officer on Special Duty in the Ministry of External Affairs.
• Myanmar is facing protests for restoration of democracy since seize of power by military in a coup on 01 February, 2021.
• Myanmar is one of the India’s neighbouring countries. It shares 1,640-km long border with India.
• Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram share boundary with Myanmar.

Topic: Infrastructure and Energy

4. On 25 March 2024, the Border Roads Organization (BRO) connected the Nimmu-Padam-Darcha road in Ladakh.

• It is a 298-kilometer road. This road would link Manali with Leh via Darcha and Nimmu on Kargil – Leh Highway.
• Beside Manali-Leh and Srinagar-Leh, this road currently serves as the third axis connecting Ladakh with the hinterland.
• The work on black topping the road will begin soon.
• The Nimmu-Padam-Darcha road is strategically crucial.
• In addition to being shorter than the other two axes, it only traverses one pass. Shinkun La is the name of the pass.
• The BRO is about to start tunnel work on Shinkun La. With construction of Shinkun La tunnel starting, the third all weather axis to Ladakh will be created.
• As a result, this road will be accessible to the Ladakh region in all weather conditions.
• The all-weather connectivity will strengthen the defence preparedness.
• It will benefit the economic development in the Zanskar valley.

Topic: Defence

5. ICG Ship Samudra Paheredar reached at Manila Bay, Philippines on 25 March 2024.

• It reached Manila Bay on a three-day visit, which is a part of initiative aimed at demonstration of shared concern & resolve towards Marine Pollution in the ASEAN region.
• The initiative is also aimed at demonstration of ICG Marine Pollution Response capabilities and improving bilateral cooperation with the Philippine Coast Guard.
• ICG Ship Samudra Paheredar is on a deployment to ASEAN countries including the Philippines, Vietnam, and Brunei from 25 March to 12 April 2024.
• During the deployment, ICG Ship Samudra Paheredar will make port calls in Manila (Philippines), Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam), and Muara (Brunei).
• This is the third continuous deployment by the Indian Coast Guard to ASEAN countries.
• In 2023, ICG Pollution Control Vessels visited Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia.
• The 25 National Cadet Corps (NCC) cadets are also embarked on the ship. They will take part in Government’s initiative Puneet Sagar Abhiyan and undertake beach cleanup.
• Indian Coast Guard ship Samudra Paheredar is a specialized Pollution Control Vessel.
• It is stationed on the East Coast of India in Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.

Topic: Sports

6. Sreeja Akula wins women's singles title at the WTT Feeder Beirut II 2024 table tennis tournament.

• On 24 March, India’s Sreeja Akula defeated Luxembourg’s Sarah De Nutte to win the women’s singles title at the WTT Feeder Beirut II 2024 table tennis tournament at the Al Kawthar Secondary School in Lebanon.
• World number ranking 47, Akula won the second WTT singles title of her career.
• Akula got its first victory in January at the feeder Corpus Christi 2024 in Texas.
• However, Akula failed to win a second table tennis title at the Lebanese competition, when she and her partner Diya Chitale lost to Du Hoi Kem and Zhu Chengzhu of Hong Kong, China in the women's doubles final.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Sports

7. On World Kabaddi Day (March 24), India created history by creating a Guinness World Record with the participation of 128 players.

• Recently, the Holistic International Overseas Sports Association (HIPSA) and the Government of Haryana signed an MoU to promote Kabaddi at the global level.
• This MoU was one of the main reasons for choosing India, and specifically Haryana, as the venue for this event.
• Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya participated in this event as the chief guest.
• The attempt to create the Guinness World Record began at 11 am in the presence of the Guinness team judges and ended at 2 pm after three hours of continuous play with the participation of 128 players.
• Guinness adjudicator Swapnil Dangrikar announced this.
• Guinness had set the benchmark for 84 players to break the record. Whereas the organizers accepted this challenge by creating a new record with 154 players.
• Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya was presented with the Guinness World Record Certificate by the Guinness team.
• After this, the Governor handed over this prestigious certificate to Kanti D Suresh, President of Holistic International Overseas Sports Association, and Ashok Das, President of World Kabaddi.
• World Kabaddi Day has been celebrated every year on 24 March since 2019.
• This year, World Kabaddi Day was celebrated in India and Tau Devi Lal Stadium Panchkula was selected for it.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Art and Culture

8. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has decided to delist 18 "centrally protected monuments".

• ASI has assessed that they are not of national importance.
• These 18 monuments are part of a previous list of monuments that the ASI had said were "untraceable".
• The monuments now facing delisting include a medieval highway milestone recorded as Kos Minar No.13 at Mujessar village in Haryana, and Barakhamba Cemetery in Delhi.
• It also includes Gunner Burkill’s tomb in the Jhansi district, a cemetery at Gaughat in Lucknow, and the Telia Nala Buddhist ruins in Varanasi.
• The exact location of these monuments or their current physical condition is not known.
• Currently, there are 3,693 monuments under the purview of the ASI, which will reduce to 3,675 when the ongoing delisting process is completed in the next few weeks.
• Under the Union Ministry of Culture, ASI is responsible for the protection and maintenance of certain monuments and archaeological sites.
• These monuments and archaeological sites which have been declared to be of national importance under the relevant provisions of the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act, 1904, and the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958 (AMASR Act).
• On 8 March, a gazette notification was issued for the 18 monuments concerned. The public has two months to send "objections or suggestions".
• In December 2022, the Culture Ministry told the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture that 50 of India's 3,693 centrally protected monuments were missing.
• The ministry told the committee that 14 of these monuments were lost due to rapid urbanization, 12 were submerged in reservoirs/dams and the remaining 24 could not be located.

Topic: State News /Uttar Pradesh

9. UP Board of Madrasa Education Act declared 'unconstitutional' by Allahabad HC.

• On 22 March, the Uttar Pradesh Madrassa Education Board Act, 2004, declared "unconstitutional" and a violation of the principle of secularism by the Allahabad High Court.
• The Allahabad High Court asked the state government to accommodate the current students in the formal schooling system.
• On a writ petition filed by a person named Anshuman Singh Rathore, the division bench of Justice Vivek Chaudhary and Justice Subhash Vidyarthi of the Lucknow bench of the court declared the law ultra vires.
• Petitioner objected to the fact that Madrasas are managed by the Minority Welfare Department instead of the Education Department.
• The petitioner submitted that the Madarsa Act violates the principles of secularism, which is the basic structure of the Constitution and fails to provide quality compulsory education up to the age of 14 years/Class-VIII as mandated under Article 21-A.
• They fail to provide universal and quality school education to all the children studying in Madarsa.
• There are approximately 25,000 madrassas in Uttar Pradesh of which 16,500 are recognized by the Uttar Pradesh Madrassa Education Board.
• Of these, 560 madrassas receive grants from the government. Besides, there are 8,500 unrecognized madrassas in the state.

Topic: International News

10. For the first time, the UN Security Council has demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

• On 25 March, an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages demanded by the United Nations Security Council.
• After the United States abstained from the vote, the remaining 14 council members voted for the resolution, which was proposed by the 10 elected members of the body.
• Washington had previously been against a ceasefire in the nearly six-month-old war in the Gaza Strip.
• It used its veto power to protect US ally Israel as it retaliated against Hamas for an October 7 attack that Israel says killed 1,200 people.
• But amid growing global pressure for a ceasefire in the war, which has killed more than 32,000 Palestinians, the US abstained from the vote on March 25.
• This allowed the Security Council to demand an immediate ceasefire for the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which ends in two weeks.
• The Security Council resolution "emphasizes the urgent need to strengthen the protection of civilians throughout the Gaza Strip and increase the flow of humanitarian assistance."

Topic: Personality in News

11. An asteroid has been named 'Jayantmurthy' after Indian professor and eminent scientist Jayant Murthy.

• He is known for his work in space missions, ultraviolet astronomy, and the interstellar medium.
• Previously cataloged as 2005 EX296, the asteroid is now designated as (215884) Jayantimurthy.
• The announcement was made by the Working Group of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), which is in charge of assigning names to small objects in the Solar System.
• In 2005, the Asteroid (215884) Jayantimurthy was discovered by MW Buie at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona, United States.
• It completes a full orbit around the Sun between Mars and Jupiter every 3.3 years.
• In 2021, Professor Murthy retired from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA). Since then, he has served as Honorary Professor.
• He was also the acting director of IIA from July 2018 to October 2019.

Topic: Reports and Indices/Rankings

12. In Hurun Research's list, Mumbai has emerged as Asia's new billionaire hub, overtaking Beijing.

• According to Hurun Research's 2024 Global Rich List, Mumbai has rapidly emerged as Asia's billionaire hub and has overtaken Beijing for the first time.
• India's financial capital now has 92 billionaires, surpassing Beijing's 91 billionaires, yet China has more billionaires at 814 compared to India's 271.
• In terms of billionaires, Mumbai ranked third globally, with New York leading with 119 billionaires, followed by London with 97 billionaires.
• The rise of the Maharashtrian city is credited to the addition of 26 new billionaires in the last year, bringing its total wealth of billionaires to $445 billion, up 47% from the previous year.
• In contrast, the total wealth of Beijing's billionaires is $265 billion, which has seen a decline of 28%.
• Mumbai's wealth-boosting sectors include energy and pharmaceuticals, which have seen notable gains by business tycoons like Mukesh Ambani.
• Among Mumbai's billionaire elite, real estate magnate Mangal Prabhat Lodha and his family experienced the most significant increase in wealth at 116%.

Topic: Committees/ Commissions/ Taskforces

13. An expert committee appointed by the Supreme Court to look into the preservation of the Great Indian Bustard.

• This is a "non-negotiable" and "sustainable development requirement in the context of meeting the country's international commitments towards promoting renewable sources of energy".
• The ruling was made by a bench that included Manoj Mishra, JB Pardiwala, and Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud in handling a matter involving the Great Indian Bustard's (GIB) protection.
• The court has sought a report from the committee by July and listed the matter for the second week of August 2024.
• The Court underlined the importance of taking proactive measures to protect the GIB.
• The committee includes the Director of Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, Hari Shankar Singh, a Member of the National Board for Wildlife, Niranjan Kumar Vasu, Ex-Principal Chief Conservator of Forest.
• It also includes B Majumdar, former Chief Wildlife Warden and Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Maharashtra, and Devesh Gadhavi, Deputy Director of the Corbett Foundation, among others.
• In the regions of Rajasthan and Gujarat that the Wildlife Institute of India designated as priority areas, the committee will determine the scope, feasibility, and extent of overhead and underground power lines.

Topic: Space and IT

14. Zero orbital debris mission accomplished by ISRO's POEM-3 mission.

• On March 25, ISRO said it achieved another milestone as the PSLV Orbital Experimental Module-3 (POEM-3) met its fiery end via re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere.
• On March 21, 2024, this milestone was achieved and the PSLV-C58/XPoSat mission has left practically zero debris in orbit.
• PSLV-C58 mission was completed on January 1, 2024.
• After completing the primary mission of placing all the satellites in their desired orbits, the terminal stage of PSLV was changed to a 3-axis stabilized platform, POEM-3.
• The stage was de-orbited from 650 km to 350 km, facilitating its early re-entry, and decommissioned to remove residual propellants to reduce any accidental break-up risk.
• With a total of 9 different experimental payloads, POEM-3 was configured to conduct technology demonstration and scientific experiments on newly developed indigenous systems.
• Of these, 6 payloads were delivered by NGEs via IN-SPACe.