Daily Current Affairs and GK | 3 November 2022

Topic: National Appointment

1. CRPF appointed two women officers as IGs for the first time.

• Annie Abraham has been made IG of the Rapid Action Force (RAF). It is a specialized anti-riots unit.
• Seema Dhundia has been appointed as Bihar sector IG.
• Both had joined the CRPF in 1987 as the first batch of women officers.
• Annie Abraham has earlier commanded the women-formed police units (FPU) in the UN Mission in Liberia.
• They have received the President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service, Police Medal for Meritorious Service, and the ‘Ati Utkrisht Sewa Padak’ during their service.
• Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF):
  • CRPF was the first central armed police force to induct women in combat in 1986. At present, it has more than 6000 women constables.
  • It became the Central Reserve Police Force with enactment of the CRPF Act on 28th December 1949.
  • It assists the state/union Territory police to maintain law and order and counter-insurgency operations.
  • Inspectors General (IG) is the head of the sector in the CRPF.
  • Sujoy Lal Thaosen is the current Director General of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

Topic: Defence

2. South Korea and the United States started a five-day ‘Vigilant Storm’ exercise.

•  A five-day ‘Vigilant Storm’ exercise began on 31st October.
• More than 240 aircraft, including American F-35B stealth fighter jets, are participating in this exercise.
• F-35A stealth jets and F-15K and KF-16 fighters are participating in the exercise from the South Korean side.
• The Air Forces of South Korea and the U.S. will enhance operational capabilities by conducting various air operations such as strike package flights, air defence, and emergency air interdiction.
• Recently, South Korea concluded its annual Hoguk field training exercises.

Topic: National News

3. Ethanol procurement mechanism for public sector OMCs under the Ethanol Blended Petrol programme has been approved by the Cabinet.

• Under the chairmanship of PM Modi, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved higher ethanol prices derived from different sugarcane-based raw materials under the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme.
• Approval has been given for the upcoming sugar season 2022-23 during ESY 2022-23 from 1^st December 2022 to 31^st October 2023.
• Increase in price of ethanol is as follows;
  • Increase in the price of ethanol from Rs.46.66 per liter to Rs.49.41 per liter from C Heavy molasses Route,
  • Increase in the price of ethanol from Rs.59.08 per liter to Rs.60.73 per liter from the B-heavy molasses Route,
  • Increase in the price of ethanol from sugarcane juice/sugar/sugar syrup route from Rs 63.45 per liter to Rs 65.61 per litre,
  • In addition, GST and transportation charges will also be payable.
• All distilleries will be able to take advantage of the scheme and a large number of them are expected to supply ethanol for the EBP programme.
• The remunerative price to the ethanol suppliers will help in making quick payments to the sugarcane farmers, contributing to easing the hardship of the sugarcane farmers in the process.
• The government is implementing the EBP program, especially as Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) sell petrol that contains up to 10 percent ethanol.
• This program has been implemented with effect from 1^st April 2019 across India, except for the Union Territories of Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep Islands to promote the use of alternative and environment-friendly fuels.
• The government has notified the directed price of ethanol since 2014.
• The government had, for the first time, announced differential pricing of ethanol based on the feedstock used for ethanol production during 2018.
• The procurement of ethanol by Public Sector OMCs has increased from 38 crore liters in Ethanol Supply Year 2013-14 to contracts of over 452 crore liters in ongoing ESY 2021-22.

Topic: National Appointments

4. Giridhar Aramane and Sanjeev Chopra assumed charge as secretaries of Defence and Department of Food and Public Distribution respectively.

• On 1 November, Giridhar Aramane assumed charge as the Defence Secretary.
• He replaced Ajay Kumar, who retired at the end of the previous month.
• Prior to this, Armane was serving as the secretary of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
• Shri Sanjeev Chopra has assumed charge as Secretary of the Department of Food and Public Distribution with effect from 31 October 2022 in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs.
• He also served as the Chairman of Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation Limited under the Government of Odisha.
• The Government of India awarded Sanjeev Chopra the National e-Governance Award for Excellence in Government Process Re-engineering for Digital Transformation in the years 2020 and 2021.

Topic: Personality in News

5. Ela Bhatt passed away at the age of 89.

• Ela Bhatt, a well-known women's rights and micro-finance activist, lawyer, and Padma Bhushan recipient passed on November 2.
• Ela Bhatt was a renowned Gandhian who advocated the economic empowerment of women.
• She founded and led the Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) in India.
• In 1973, she founded the 'SEWA' Co-operative Bank to persuade the economic welfare of women.
• In 1979, she also co-founded Women's World Banking.
• In 1985, she received the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian honour.
• In 1986, she received the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian honour.
• In 2011, she received the Gandhi Peace Prize for her efforts in empowering women through entrepreneurship.
• In 1977, she also received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership.

Topic: National Appointments

6. Dr G Hemaprabha, took over as the first woman director of ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute.

• The ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, a 111-year-old institution, has appointed its first-ever woman director.
• Dr G Hemaprabha has been appointed as the Director of the Institute till 2024 under the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
• She has been appointed on the recommendations of the Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board, New Delhi.
• She has so far developed 27 sugarcane varieties and registered 15 sugarcane genetic stocks with more than 34 years of research experience in sugarcane genetic improvement.
• Sugarcane Breeding Institute (SBI):
  • It is a central research institute affiliated with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research.
  • It was established in 1912 in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.
  • It is the only sugarcane research institute in the country and was founded to promote research efforts in sugarcane production.

Topic: Defence

7. Maiden flight-test of Phase-II Ballistic Missile Defence interceptor AD-1 missile has been successfully conducted by DRDO.

• The flight test has been conducted from APJ Abdul Kalam Island off the coast of Odisha.
• It has been conducted with the participation of all BMD weapon system elements located at different geographical locations.
• The AD-1 missile is a long-range interceptor missile. It is designed for both low exo-atmospheric and endo-atmospheric interception of long-range ballistic missiles as well as aircraft.
• It is propelled by a two-stage solid motor.
• It is equipped with an indigenously-developed advanced control system, navigation and guidance algorithm to precisely guide the vehicle to the target.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Important Days

8. Vigilance Awareness Week is being observed from 31st October to 6th November, 2022.

• Vigilance Awareness Week is observed by Central Vigilance Commission during the week in which 31st October, the birthday of the late Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel falls.
• This year, the theme for Vigilance Awareness Week is ‘Corruption free India for a developed Nation’.
• A three-month campaign had been carried out by the Central Vigilance Commission as a precursor to Vigilance Awareness Week 2022.
• The campaign highlighted certain preventive vigilance initiatives as focus areas for all the Ministries/ Departments/ Organizations.
• As a part of Vigilance Awareness Week, a function will be held by the Central Vigilance Commission at Vigyan Bhawan on the 3rd of November.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

9. Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh launched a nationwide campaign for the Submission of Digital Life Certificates.

• Dr Jitendra Singh urged all pensioners to use the facility of Face Authentication technology.
• On this occasion, Dr Jitendra Singh announced two initiatives for Pensioner’s welfare.
• The government will initiate efforts for the universalization of the Integrated Pensioners’ Portal as the Bhavishya 9.0 version.
• Its main aim will be to enhance ‘Ease of Living’ for Central Government Pensioners by incorporating different Portals of the Pensions department and 17 Pension Disbursing Banks’ portals.
• State Bank of India is the first pension disbursing Bank to integrate its Pension Seva Portal with ‘BHAVISHYA’.
• The Department of Pensions and Pensioners Welfare will soon launch National Anubhav Awardees Webinar Series.
• Two Anubhav Awardees/webinars will be introduced as speakers to share their own experiences on Anubhav Portal and increase awareness on filling up amongst retired employees.
• Initially, the government launched a system to submit DLCs using biometrics. After then, a face-recognition technology system based on the Aadhaar database has been developed for the submission of DLC.

Topic: Space and IT

10. Astronomers discovered an asteroid named 2022 AP7.

• A team of Astronomers have discovered three massive near-Earth asteroids and one of them is 2022 AP7.
• The other two asteroids are- 2021 LJ4 and 2021 PH27. 2021 LJ4 is the smallest in size while 2021 PH27 is closest to the Sun.
• Astronomers said that ‘2022 AP7’ is the largest potentially hazardous asteroid (PHA) discovered since 2014.
• It has been found by Scott Sheppard and his team during twilight. Astronomers used a Dark Energy Camera at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile.
• ‘2022 AP7’ has a diameter of 1 to 2 km and it will cross Earth’s orbit.
• Any asteroid with 1km in size is considered a planet killer. Currently, it has no chance to hit the Earth.
• Within Earth’s orbit, Astronomers have only discovered around 25 asteroids.
• Asteroids are small, rocky objects that orbit the Sun. These are mainly found between Mars and Jupiter.

Topic: Important Days

11. Zojila Day: 01 November

• On November 1, Zojila Day was observed at the Zojila War Memorial near Drass.
• The day was observed to honour the bravery displayed by Indian troops during "Operation Bison" in 1948.
• Operation Bison was launched from the icy heights of the Zojila pass, the entrance to Ladakh.
• The commemoration of the day was marked with a solemn wreath-laying by Commander Dras Warriors of the Leh-based Fire and Fury Corps.
• Operation Bison is the codename of capture of Zoji La, Drass and Kargil district in Ladakh by the Indian Army during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947-1948.
• Zojila Pass is located in Union territory of Ladakh, Kargil district. It is a high mountain pass in the Himalayas.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: State News/Arunachal Pradesh

12. Union Cabinet has approved naming of Greenfield Airport at Hollongi, Itanagar as “Donyi Polo Airport, Itanagar”.

• State Government of Arunachal Pradesh had passed the resolution to name the airport as Donyi Polo Airport, Itanagar.
• The new name reflects the people’s reverence of the Sun (Donyi) and the Moon (Polo) to symbolize the traditions and rich cultural heritage of the State.
• Union government had given in-principle approval for development of Hollongi Greenfield Airport in January, 2019.
• Union cabinet has also approved signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Denmark on cooperation in the field of Water Resources Development and Management.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

13. Textiles Ministry approved 20 strategic research projects worth about Rs 74 crore under 'National Technical Textiles Mission'.

• Of these, five projects are related to special fibres, six projects to agricultural textiles and two each to smart textiles, protective gear and apparel and geotextiles.
• These strategic projects were approved in a meeting held in New Delhi on 1 November under the chairmanship of Union Textiles Minister Piyush Goyal.
• Shri Goyal said that linkages between industry and academia are essential for promoting research and development in the application areas of technical fabrics.
• He also said that building relationships with academicians, scientists and researchers is the need of the hour.
• Despite the widespread use of special fibre in India, Shri Piyush Goyal said that the indigenization of technology is still a major challenge which requires collaboration between both industry and academia.
• National Technical Textiles Mission:
  • The government has launched a National Technical Textiles Mission for promoting research and development in the textile sector.
  • The focus of the Mission is to promote the use of technical textiles in various strategic sectors.
  • The government had launched National Technical Textiles Mission for a period of 4 years (2020-21 to 2023-24) with an outlay of Rs.1480 crores.

Topic: National News

14. First of its kind fish museum in Northeast will be set up in Arunachal Pradesh soon.

• The museum has been sanctioned by the Union Ministry of Fisheries and it will be a part of the Integrated Aqua Park (IAP).
• In order for the museum to be built, the existing Tarin Fish Farm (TFF), which is situated in the high-altitude Bulla village, will be upgraded as the IAP.
• It will have all the state's fish species and will act as a training center for the fishermen.
• In the current financial year, an amount of Rs 43.59 crore was sanctioned for the project as the first installment.
• Under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMSY), PM Narendra Modi announced one IAP for each state and union territory three years ago to bring about a blue revolution.
• Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY):
  • Government of India launched PMMSY in May 2020 as part of the AtmaNirbhar Bharat Package with the highest ever investment of Rs. 20,050 crores.
  • The schemes will be implemented from FY 2020-21 to FY 2024-25 in all states/UTs.