Daily Current Affairs and GK | 27 November 2021

Topic: Reports and Indices

1. India has more women than men, according to National Family Health Survey.

• According to the most recent National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) data for 2019-21, India has more females than males and its overall sex ratio has risen to 1,020.
• India’s overall sex ratio is now 1,020 women per 1000 men. The sex ratio had seen a dip from 1,000 in 2005-06 to 991 in 2015-16.
• As per the data from the fifth National Family Health Survey (NFHS), the sex ratio in rural areas is better than in urban areas.
• The NFHS-5 sex ratio data appears to differ from the census data.
• For example, India's total sex ratio was 933 according to the 2001 census, but 1,000 according to the NFHS-3 survey performed in 2005-06.
• The sex ratio was 940 according to the 2011 census, however, it was 991 according to NFHS-4 (20015-16).
• The worst urban sex ratio was found in the union territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, with 775 women per 1,000 males. In addition, among all states, Delhi had the poorest rural sex ratio (859).
• The sex ratio at birth of just 929 for the five years prior to the latest survey is still well below the 952 mark, which WHO estimates as the natural sex ratio at birth.
• The sex ratio at birth (SRB) of 929 is a significant improvement as compared to 2005-06 sex ratio at birth of 914 and the 2015-16 SRB of 919.

Topic: Books and Authors

2. Ban Ki-moon released his autobiography "Resolved: Uniting Nations in a Divided World".

• Former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has released his autobiography "Resolved: Uniting Nations in a Divided World."
• The book is published by HarperCollins India. He has served as the 8^th Secretary-General of the United Nations for two 5-year terms (2007–2016).
• His first diplomatic posting was in India, and he arrived in Delhi in October 1972.
• In his book, he has mentioned how he went from being a "child of war" to becoming a "man of peace".

Topic: State News/Uttar Pradesh

3. First domestic flight from Kushinagar international airport takes off for Delhi.

• First domestic flight from Kushinagar international airport took off for Delhi on 26 November 2021.
• Kushinagar airport is the third international airport of Uttar Pradesh. It was inaugurated by PM Modi on October 20.
• Until recently, Uttar Pradesh had two international airports- Lucknow and Varanasi.
• PM Modi recently laid the foundation stone for the development of Noida International Airport. Another international airport is being constructed in Ayodhya.
• From next month, flights for two more cities will take off from the airport. These cities are Kolkata and Mumbai.

Topic: Books and Authors

4. Maroof Raza writes a book titled “Contested Lands: India, China, and the Boundary Dispute”.

• Maroof Raza has written a book titled “Contested Lands: India, China, and the Boundary Dispute”.
• Kashmir’s Untold Story, Shourya Gatha: Bharat Ke Veer Senani and War Despatches 1971 are names of other books written by Maroof Raza, an ex-army officer.
• Historian BN Goswamy (Brijinder Nath Goswamy) has written a book titled as “Conversations: India’s Leading Art Historian Engages with 101 themes and More”.
• Nobel Prize winner economist Abhijit Banerjee has written a book titled “Cooking to Save your Life”.
• Diplomat Syed Akbaruddin has written a new book with the title “India vs UK: The Story of an Unprecedented Diplomatic Win”.
• Debashish Mukerji is the author of the book titled ‘The Disruptor: How Vishwanath Pratap Singh Shook India’.

Topic: Biotechnology and Diseases

5. WHO names new COVID-19 variant B.1.1.529 as Omicron.

• World Health Organisation (WHO) has named new COVID-19 variant B.1.1.529 as Omicron.
• New COVID-19 variant B.1.1.529 was first reported to WHO from South Africa on 24 November 2021.
• WHO said that the strain may spread more quickly than other forms. It has a large number of mutations.
• WHO said that preliminary evidence suggests an increased risk of reinfection with this variant as compared to other variants.
• WHO also said that current PCR tests continue to successfully detect the variant.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: National News

6. CEC Sushil Chandra said that women's participation stood at more than 67% in 2019 General Election.

• Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra said that women's participation stood at more than 67% in 2019 General Election.
• He said that women's participation in India has exceeded that of men after seven decades and 17 General Elections since Independence.
• He further said that India has witnessed a 235.72 % increase in female voters since the 1971 elections. 
• He was speaking at an international webinar at New Delhi organized by the Election Commission of India.
• The theme of webinar was ‘Enhancing electoral participation of Women, Persons with Disabilities and Senior citizen Voters: Sharing Best Practices and New Initiatives”.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

7. FM Sitharaman launched several projects and schemes in Jammu.

• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has launched various projects & schemes like TEJASWANI, HAUSLA, SHIKHAR, and SHIKARA in Jammu.
• The Finance Minister also laid the e-foundation of the Rural Self Employment Training Institute (RSETI) Bhawan at Shopian and Baramulla.
• Tejaswini Scheme and Hausla Scheme would be implemented by J&K Bank for women's empowerment.
• Shikhar & Shikara schemes would be implemented by Punjab National Bank (PNB) and SIDBI.
• Tejaswini Scheme is a credit outreach program in Jammu. It aims to provide young women between 18-35 years up to Rs 5 lakh to help them start profitable self-employment ventures.
• The Hausla Scheme has been launched under the J&K Trade Promotion Organisation, which aims to empower existing women entrepreneurs to be role models in their respective sectors.
• The Shikhar scheme focuses on addressing financing requirements for the hotel, tour, and tourism industries up to Rs 2 crores.
• In the Kashmir valley, the Shikara scheme offers credit up to Rs 15 lakh for the purchase or maintenance of Shikaras.

Topic: Indian Economy

8. A new Wage Rate Index series released, with the base year being changed from 1963-65 to 2016.

• The government has changed the base year for the Wage Rate Index (WRI) to 2016, replacing the previous series, which had the base year of 1963-65.
• The new base will be more representative, and it will be used to determine minimum wages, national floor rates, and other factors.
• The new WRI series would be compiled twice a year, on January 1 and July 1 of each year, on a point-to-point half-yearly basis.
• In comparison to the old WRI series (1963-65=100), the New WRI basket (2016=100) has expanded the scope and coverage of occupations and industries.
• 16 new industries have been added to the new basket of 37 sectors covered in the new series, including textile garments, footwear, and petroleum. The weights of different sectors in old and new series are given next.

• Motor vehicles (11.49%), coal mines (9.53%), textile garments (9.32%), iron & steel (9.30%), and cotton textiles (6.55 %) make up the top five industries, accounting for 46 % of total weight.
• The overall average daily full wage rate for all 37 industries combined was Rs 585.5 in the second half of 2020, compared to Rs 576.1 in the first half of the year.

Topic: Sports

9. P. V. Sindhu will face Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon in the semi-finals of the Indonesia Open Badminton.

• PV Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medalist, advanced to the semi-finals of the Indonesia Open Super 1000 after overcoming Sim Yujin of South Korea in a hard-fought three-game fight.
• P. V. Sindhu will face Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon in the Women's Singles semi-finals, which is being held in Bali on 27 November.
• Indians Satwik Sairaj and Chirag Shetty will face top-seeded Indonesians Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo in the Men's Doubles event.
• The Indian duo advanced to the semi-finals by defeating Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin of Malaysia.
• Indonesia Open Badminton is an annual badminton tournament organized by the Badminton Association of Indonesia since 1982.

(Source: News on Air)

Topic: Sports

10. Due to the new variant of Covid-19, the FIH Junior Women's World Cup in South Africa has been postponed.

• Following the outbreak of a new coronavirus variant in South Africa, the upcoming FIH Junior Women's Hockey World Cup has been postponed.
• The hockey tournament was scheduled to take place from the 5th to the 16th of next month.
• This decision was made jointly by the International Hockey Federation (FIH), the South African Hockey Association, and the North-West University of Potchefstroom.
• The event included 16 of the best teams from across the world competing for the title, which had previously been won by Argentina in 2016.

(Source: News on Air)

Topic: National News

11. DBT-National Brain Research Centre, Haryana, developed 'SWADESH', the world's first multimodal brain imaging data and analytics.

• Project SWADESH is a unique brain initiative concentrating on certified neuroimaging, neurochemical, and neuropsychological data and analytic.
• The project has been recently launched by DBT-National Brain Research Centre (DBT-NBRC), Haryana.
• SWADESH is the first large-scale multimodal neuroimaging database specifically designed for the Indian population.
• Dr. Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for the Ministry of Science and Technology, inaugurated SWADESH on November 19, 2021.
• The National Brain Research Center is India's only institute dedicated to neuroscience education and research.

Topic: State News/Nagaland

12. The Ministry of Tourism is hosting a three-day International Tourism Mart (ITM) in Kohima, Nagaland.

• The annual event "International Tourism Mart" (ITM) is being organized by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India in Kohima, Nagaland from November 27 to November 29, 2021.
• The event is being organized with the aim of highlighting the tourism potential of the region in the domestic and international markets.
• The event was jointly inaugurated by Nagaland Chief Minister Shri Neiphiu Rio, Minister of State for Tourism and Defence, Government of India, Shri Ajay Bhatt, and MLA & Advisor Tourism, Government of Nagaland, Shri H Khehovi Yeputhomi.
• The International Tourism Marts are held throughout the North Eastern States on a rotation basis. For the first time, Nagaland is hosting this Mart.
• Guwahati (Assam), Tawang (Arunachal Pradesh), Shillong (Meghalaya), Gangtok (Sikkim), Agartala (Tripura), and Imphal (Manipur) have all hosted previous versions of this Mart.