Daily Current Affairs and GK | 29 April 2022

Topic: Important Days

1. International Dance Day: 29 April

• International Dance Day is observed every year on 29 April around the world.
• It encourages and educates people across the world about different dance forms.
• It is celebrated to mark the birth anniversary of Jean-Georges Noverre, the creator of modern ballet.
• It was first announced by the International Dance Council in 1982.

•  List of Classical Dance in India:

Topic: National Appointments

2. President Ram Nath Kovind has appointed Vijay Sampla as NCSC chairperson for the second time.

• Sampla had resigned as chairperson of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) and fought Punjab elections.
• He is a BJP leader. He was Chairman of Punjab Khadi Board till 2012.
• He was Chairman of Punjab State Forest Development Corporation.
• National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC):
  • It is a constitutional body that provides safeguards against the exploitation of SC communities.
  • Article 338 of the Indian Constitution is related to National Commission for SCs.
  • President of India appoints the Chairman and other members of NCSC.

Topic: National News

3. Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan released mandate document of National Curriculum Framework.

• The document lists out the development process, objectives and structure of the National Curriculum Framework (NCF).
• As per the recommendation of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, there are four areas for the development of NCF.
• These four areas are school education, early childhood care and education, teacher education and adult education.
• To provide inputs for the development of these, 25 themes based on the perspectives of the NEP 2020 and four curriculum frameworks have been identified under three categories given next.
  • Curriculum and Pedagogy
  • Cross-cutting Issues
  • Other important areas of NEP 2020 focussing on systemic changes and reforms.

Topic: Economy/Banking/Finance

4. RBI has modified interest subvention scheme for short term loans for agriculture and allied activities availed through Kisan Credit Card during FY22.

• RBI has said that pending claims for the financial year 2021-22 can be submitted by June 30, 2023. 
• RBI has said banks should submit their claims on an annual basis duly certified by their statutory auditors. 
• Banks are provided interest subvention of 2% annually to provide short term crop loans up to Rs 3 lakh to farmers at an interest rate of 7% per annum.
• Farmers get an additional 3% interest subvention if they pay their loans promptly. The effective interest rate for these farmers is 4%.
• The aim of the interest subvention scheme for farmers is to provide short term credit to them at subsidized rates.
• This scheme became effective from the Kharif season of 2006-07.

Topic: Personality in News

5. Elvera Britto, a former captain of Indian women's hockey team, died at the age of 81.

• Elvera guided Karnataka's domestic team to seven national titles. She ruled the domestic circuit from 1960 to 1967.
• She represented India in matches against Australia, Sri Lanka, and Japan.
• After Anne Lumsden (1961), Elvera became only the second woman hockey player to get the Arjuna Award in 1965.

Topic: National News

6. A month-long programme "Enterprise India" launched by Shri Narayan Rane.

• Shri Narayan Rane, Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, launched the Ministry's Mega Event "Enterprise India" as part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations.
• Events and activities are being organized from 27^th April to 27^th May to promote entrepreneurship culture and create awareness about the schemes and initiatives of the Ministry of MSME across the country.
• The objective of the event is 'Jan Bhagidari' and includes major activities like conferences with Industry Associations, special campaigns on Udyam Registration, the launch of the MSME Sustainable Zed Certification Scheme, etc.
• The event is also aimed at creating synergy between industry associations and the various ministries/departments concerned.

Topic: National Appointments

7. Krishnan Ramanujam appointed as Chairperson of NASSCOM for 2022-23.

• Krishnan Ramanujam, a senior executive at Tata Consultancy Services, has been appointed as Chairperson of Nasscom.
• Ramanujam has succeeded Rekha M. Menon, Chairperson and Senior Managing Director of Accenture in India.
• Krishnan was currently the Vice-Chairperson of the National Association of Software and Services Companies.
• Anant Maheshwari, President of Microsoft India, has been appointed as the Vice-Chairperson of Nasscom for 2022-23.
• National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM):
  • It was established in 1988 as an association of the software industry.
  • It is the premier trade body and chamber of commerce of the Tech industry in India.
  • Debjani Ghosh is the current President of Nasscom.

Topic: International News

8. Russia quit from United Nations World Tourism Organization.

• Russia has decided to withdraw itself from the United Nations World Tourism Organisation ahead of the scheduled vote on its suspension.
• Despite this, the UNWTO has decided to suspend Russia for its attack on Ukraine.
• According to the rules of the vote, a two-thirds majority is required to suspend a member country.
• Russia has been already removed from the United Nations Human Rights Council for human rights violations in Ukraine.
• United Nations World Tourism Organization:
  • It was established in 1946.
  • It is responsible for the promotion of tourism in the world.
  • Its headquarters is located in Madrid, Spain.
  • It promotes tourism as a driver of economic growth, inclusive development and environmental sustainability.

Topic: State News/ Jammu and Kashmir

9. Samba becomes the first district to cover 100% households under ABPMJAY- SEHAT scheme.

• The Samba district of the Jammu and Kashmir has become the first district in India to cover 100% of households under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (ABPMJAY)- SEHAT scheme.
• It has achieved this milestone after the special registration drive organized by State Health Agency (SHA) between 11 April to 21 April.
• The Samba district has a total of 62,641 families out of which 3,04,510 people are eligible for ABPM-JAY SEHAT golden cards.
• This scheme helped residents of Jammu Kashmir in availing cashless quality healthcare services across public and empanelled private hospitals.
• Ayushman Bharat- Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana:
  • It was launched in 2018 in Ranchi, Jharkhand by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
  • It provides annual coverage of Rs 5 lakh per family for secondary and tertiary diseases, which require hospitalization.
  • National Health Authority is the implementing agency of this scheme.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

10. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has extended PM SVANidhi scheme till December 2024.

• Under Prime Minister Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) scheme, street vendors are provided affordable collateral-free loans. It was launched in June 2020.
• Under the scheme, loans for an amount of Rs 5,000 crore were initially envisaged.
• The loan amount of ₹5,000 crores has been increased to ₹8,100 crores. This will benefit about 1.2 crore citizens of Urban India.
• The government has also increased the budget for promoting digital payments, which include cashback to vendors.

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

11. Railways Ministry and C-DOT have signed an MoU to establish a collaborative working partnership.

• The partnership includes coordination and resource sharing in relation to provision of telecom facilities in the delivery and implementation of C-DOT's telecom solutions and services in the Railways.
• With this MoU, C-DOT and Railways Ministry will work together to modernize telecommunication in Indian Railways for public safety services.
• Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT):
  • It is a government owned telecommunications technology development center.
  • It was established in 1984. It is headquartered in Delhi.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

12. MSME Sustainable (ZED) Certification Scheme has been launched by Union Minister Narayan Rane.

• The scheme is a drive to facilitate MSMEs adopt Zero Defect Zero Effect (ZED) practices.
• The scheme is also a drive to motivate and incentivize MSMEs for ZED Certification.
• Phase 1 of the scheme has been launched. It will focus largely on inclusion of manufacturing MSMEs.
• Phase 2 of the scheme will focus on inclusion of services sector MSMEs.
• The scheme includes three certification levels (bronze, silver and gold). MSMEs will be required to take a ZED pledge upon registration.
• Each MSME that takes the pledge of ZED will be offered Rs 10,000 as a reward for participating in the scheme.
• The scheme has a provision of up to Rs 5 lakh (per MSME) for handholding and consultancy support for MSMEs under ZED Certification.
• Under the scheme, subsidies will be provided to MSMEs on the cost of ZED certification as given below.
  • Micro Enterprises (80%), Small Enterprises (60%), Medium Enterprises (50%)
  • Additional subsidy of 10% for the MSMEs owned by Women/SC/ST Entrepreneurs
  • Additional subsidy of 10% for MSMEs in NER/Himalayan/LWE/Island territories/aspirational districts.
  • Additional subsidy of 5% for MSMEs which are also a part of the SFURTI.
  • Additional subsidy of 5% for MSMEs which are a part of the Micro & Small Enterprises - Cluster Development Programme (MSE-CDP).

Topic:Government Schemes and Initiatives

13. Union Minister Giriraj Singh launched ‘Azadi Se Antyodaya Tak’ campaign.

• ‘Azadi Se Antyodaya Tak’ campaign is a 90-day campaign to saturate 17 schemes of 9 Ministries in 75 selected districts across the country.
• The identified districts are the birthplace of 99 Freedom Fighters.
• The campaign’s main objective is to take up 17 selected schemes with direct assistance to beneficiaries in saturation mode.
• The 75 districts have been selected through MPCE (Monthly Per Capita Indicators) and Socio-Economic Caste Census data.
• It will aware people about the contribution of the freedom fighters associated with the freedom struggle.
• The campaign will be implemented in a celebratory mode by involving all rural stakeholders including families of identified freedom fighters (FF), Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs), women networks, etc.

Topic: Reports and Indices/Ranking

14. Restoration of the land by 2050 would add nearly 4 million square kilometres natural areas: UN Report.

• According to a press release from UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), 4 million square kilometres (equal to the size of India and Pakistan) of land will be restored by 2050.
• It will be the highest land restoration in South and Southeast Asia and Latin America.
• This report has been released in the UNCCD's 2nd edition of the Global Land Outlook (GLO).
• The report has also highlighted that around 40% of the earth's land has been degraded. It is affecting around half of humankind directly.
• According to this report, an additional 69 gigatonnes of carbon emission happened between 2015 to 2050 due to changes in Land usage, slow growth in agriculture yields and soil degradation.
• The economic returns of restoring land and reducing degradation could be around $125-140 trillion every year.
• As per this report, if things continue as they are then further 16 million square kilometres of land will be degraded by 2050, which is equal to the area of South America.
• This report has come just ahead of the UNCCD’s 15th session of the Conference of Parties to be held in Abidjan.