Daily Current Affairs and GK | 30 August 2022

Topic: Books and Authors

1. Pulapre Balakrishnan’s new book titled 'India's Economy From Nehru to Modi: A Brief History' will be released in September 2022.

• An excerpt from ‘India’s Economy From Nehru To Modi: A Brief History’ by Pulapre Balakrishnan will be released on 30 September.
• It will be published by Permanent Black.
• According to this book, annual GDP growth was 4% during the Nehruvian period (1950 to 1964). Per capita GDP growth was 1.9%.
• Pulapre Balakrishnan takes on two major criticisms of the Nehruvian economic strategy. The first is that it ignored agriculture and the second criticism is the creation of public sector “white elephants”.
• The economic slowdown began after the Nehruvian era. GDP growth fell from 3.4% in 1965-66 to 3.1% in 1971-72. The forex reserve declined, which led to the 36.5% devaluation in June 1966.
• The book compared the progress of India and China after 1947.
• Public expenditure on education as a share of GDP is low in India.
• India is very far away from reaching the global standard in terms of the most basic indicators of development.

Topic: Sports

2. Viktor Axelsen won his second BWF World Championships title in Tokyo on 28 August 2022.

• In the men's singles final, Denmark’s Axelsen defeated Thailand's Kunlavut Vitidsarn.
• Japan's Akane Yamaguchi won women’s singles title.
• Yamaguchi defeated China’s Chen Yufei. This win gave Yamaguchi her second title of the year.
• BWF World Championships is also known as World Badminton Championships.
• 2022 BWF World Championships is 27^th edition of BWF World Championships. It was held from 22-28 August 2022 in Tokyo, Japan.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Art and Culture

3. 50^th All Manipur Shumang Leela Festival 2021-2022 started.

• It started at Iboyaima Shumang Leela Shanglen at Palace Compound in Imphal.
• Manipur Governor La Ganesan and Chief Minister N. Biren Singh attended the inaugural function.
• During the festival, Manipur Governor La Ganesan distributed medals to the winners of the 49^th All Manipur Shumang Leela Festival 2020-21.
• Chief Minister N. Biren Singh said all artists will be covered under Ayushman Bharat and CMHT.
• Chief Minister-gi Hakshelgi Tengbang (CMHT) is a health assurance scheme initiated by the Government of Manipur.
• It covers cashless health protection up to Rs 5. Lakh per family per year.
• Shumang Leela is a traditional form of theatre in Manipur. Male actors play the roles of female artists.
• Male characters are played by female artists in case of female theatre groups.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: National Appointments

4. Ananth Narayan Gopalakrishnan has been appointed as whole-time Member of SEBI.

• Gopalakrishnan has become the fourth whole-time member of SEBI.
• He is an associate professor at SP Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR).
• He will hold office for a period of 3 years from the date of assuming charge or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
• He has served as the RBI-nominated additional director on the YES Bank board.
• S. K. Mohanty, Ananta Barua and Ashwani Bhatia are the other three whole-time members of SEBI.
• Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI):
  • SEBI was set up in 1988 and given statutory status in 1992. Its headquarters is located in Mumbai.
  • It is a regulator of the securities market in India and aims to protect the interests of investors in securities.
  • Ms. Madhabi Puri Buch is the current chairperson of SEBI.

Topic: International News

5. Rajkumar Ranjan Singh launched the ASEAN-India Network of Universities during a visit to Indonesia.

• On August 28, Dr. Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, Union Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs and Education, went to Indonesia for his two-day official visit to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretariat.
• It was Rajkumar Ranjan's first visit to the ASEAN Secretariat and Indonesia.
• Dr. Singh also inaugurated the ASEAN-India Network of Universities (AINU) with ASEAN Secretary-General Lim Jock Hoi and Nalanda University Vice-Chancellor Sunaina Singh.
• He said AINU will contribute to the building of a knowledge hub in the region by strengthening relationships between Indian universities and the ASEAN Member States.
• PM Narendra Modi announced AINU at the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit in 2018 as an association of prestigious institutions from India and ASEAN.
• It aims to create a core network of knowledge capital in India through collaboration between academic and research institutions and ASEAN member states.
• AINU is being implemented by Nalanda University and the ASEAN University Network from India and ASEAN, respectively.
• The year 2022 has been designated as ASEAN-India Friendship Year in order to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.
• India started a formal dialogue with ASEAN as a "Sectoral Dialogue Partner" in 1992 and then became a "Dialogue Partner" in 1996.

Topic: Defence

6. Ample strike military drill was started on Aug 29.

• From August 29 to September 16, the Czech Republic is hosting the ninth military exercise, Ample Strike 2022.
• The Ample Strike 2022 exercises feature around 900 soldiers from seven different nations.
• The exercises are taking place in the vicinity of the Namest nad Oslavou, Caslav, and Kbely airfields, as well as in the Boletice, Libava, and Ceske Budejovice city areas.
• The main aim of the exercise is to improve the coordination between targeting units, the air force and ground commanders.
• The drills will include servicemen from the United States, Slovenia, Slovakia, Germany, Latvia, and Estonia, in addition to Czech servicemen.

Topic: State News/Andhra Pradesh

7. Gidugu Ramamurthy Pantulu’s 159th birth anniversary on August 29 celebrated as Telugu Language Day in all districts of Andhra Pradesh.

• More than 40 people who have worked for development and preservation of the Telugu language were recognized on the day with a certificate and cash award of Rs 15,000 each.
• AP Official Language Commission chairman Prof. Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad made an announcement about the celebration of Telugu Language Day.
• He also announced that from the first week of September, officials of the Telugu Language Development Authority will go to each district and hold meetings with officials of all departments on the implementation of Telugu as the official language. 
• Telugu is one of the 22 languages recognized by the eighth schedule of the Constitution of India.
• Gidugu Ramamurthy Pantulu:
  • Gidugu Ramamurthy's workplace had been Visakhapatnam and his birthplace had been Uttarandhra district.
  • Gidugu Ramamurthy Pantulu was given Rao Bahadur title by Madras government in 1913. He also made efforts for the development of the Savara language.

Topic: Defence

8. INS Sumedha visited Port Klang, Malaysia on 27 August 2022.

• INS Sumedha is deployed to South East Asia. It is on its return passage from Perth, Australia where it took part in the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations.
• Its visit to Port Klang is aimed at strengthening bilateral ties.
• The visit also aims at enhancing maritime cooperation and interoperability between the Indian Navy (IN) and Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN).
• KD Lekiu participated in MILAN 2022 at Visakhapatnam. It is currently serving in the Royal Malaysian Navy.   
• IN-RMN bilateral maritime exercise Samudra Lakshmana was conducted at Kota Kinabalu in May 2022.
• INS Sumedha is an indigenously built Naval Offshore Patrol Vessel. It is part of the Indian Navy's Eastern Fleet based at Visakhapatnam.

Topic: Reports and Indices/Ranking

9. Deaths from suicide were at their highest level in 2021: NCRB

• National Crime Records Bureau released a report titled “Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India”.
• As per the NCRB, the number of suicides increased by 7.17 per cent as compared to 2020. Data shows that a total of 164,033 people died from suicide in 2021.
• Suicide deaths reached 120 people per million in 2021, the highest rate since 1967.
• According to the data from National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), around 42,004 daily wage earners committed suicides in 2021.
• The proportion of daily wage earners (25.6 per cent) remained the largest profession among the suicide victims.
• In 2021, 10,881 suicides were recorded by persons engaged in the farming sector, including 5,318 farmer/cultivator and 5,563 agricultural labourers.
• Around 20231 suicides were recorded by self-employed persons. The share of self-employed persons among total suicides has increased from 11.3 per cent to 12.3 per cent.
• The number of suicides by unemployed people has decreased from 15,652 in 2020 to 13,714 suicides in 2021.
• The number of suicides by the “Housewife” category has increased from 22,374 in 2020 to 23,179 in 2021.
• As per the report, the maximum number of suicides was recorded in Maharashtra, followed by Tamil Nadu (18,925), and Madhya Pradesh (14,956).
• The highest increase in the number of suicides was reported in Telangana (26.2 per cent), UP (23.5 per cent), and Puducherry (23.5 per cent).

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: State News/ Maharashtra

10. Maharashtra’s first “Divyang Park’’ will be established in Nagpur.

• The “Divyang Park” will have many facilities for Divyangjans like the sensory garden, textile Pathway, touch and smell garden, skill training facility, rehabilitation facility, sports & infotainment etc.    
• The park will be exclusively for disabled people so that they too can enjoy and relax. The work on the park will start soon.
• The Department of Social Justice and Empowerment organized the ‘Samajik Adhikarita Shivir’ for the distribution of aids and assistive devices to senior citizens under the ‘Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana’ (RVY Scheme) and to ‘Divyangjan’ under the ADIP Scheme.
• A total of 241200 aids and assistive devices worth Rs. 3483.00 Lakh were distributed to 27356 senior citizens and 7780 Divyangjans.

Topic: Biotechnology and Disease

11. Many pigs died in Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand due to African Swine Fever.

• In Punjab, Bandugar area of Patiala city and Mandofal village of Fatehgarh Sahib have declared as African Swine Fever (ASF)-affected zones and the Punjab government notified these as containment zones.
• What is African Swine Fever (ASF)?
  • It is a highly contagious viral disease.
  • It can affect both domestic and wild pigs. But, it is harmless to humans.
  • It can be transmitted through direct contact with affected animal. It can also be transmitted indirectly through consuming infected pig meat or meat products.
  • It was first detected in Africa in the 1920s. The first ASF outbreak in Asia was reported in China in 2018.
  • The virus is highly resistant in the environment.
  • There is currently no effective vaccine against ASF.

Topic: State News/ Uttar Pradesh

12. Central govt. approved UP government’s Parivar Kalyan Card Scheme.

• UP Parivar Kalyan Card Scheme was announced by the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to establish a comprehensive database of family units in the state.
• It also aims to identify beneficiaries for different UP government schemes related to employment, pension, housing benefits, etc.
• Parivar Kalyan Card will give a unique 12-digit ID number to each family in State and the data would be collected initially through the ration cards.
• A pilot project was launched in Prayagraj where families were identified using ration card data and beneficiaries were mapped successfully for various schemes.
• Ministry of Electronics and IT has allowed UP government to link Aadhar data with Parivar Kalyan Card.
• Karnataka’s Kutumba family ID, Rajasthan’s Bhamashah scheme, and Madhya Pradesh’s Samagra ID, Haryana’s Parivar Pehchan Patra are the similar schemes launched by state governments.

Topic: State News/ Telangana

13. Several Gram Surpanches of Telangana are showing interest in having Amrit Sarovar.

• During his Mann Ki Baat program, Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised the Mangtya-Valya Thanda Panchayat for its excellent rainwater collection system.
• There was a place near the village where a lot of water gets accumulated during the monsoon.
• The people of this panchayat created a lake under the Amrit Sarovar campaign at that place.
• The Mangtya Valya is an ST-dominated village, and its Panchayat decided to have a tank in their Gram Sabha.
• ‘Amrit Sarovar’ Mission:
  • PM Modi launched the Amrit Sarovar Mission in Jammu Kashmir on 24^th April.
  • Under this initiative, 75 water bodies will be developed and rejuvenated in each district.
  • Its main focus is water conservation.

Topic: International News

14. For the first time, India mentioned the "militarization of Taiwan Straits."

• India has for the first time commented on the action of China towards Taiwan.
• The Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka released a statement in which India accused China of "militarizing the Taiwan Strait."
• India made the statement after a Chinese military research vessel docked at Sri Lanka’s Hambantota port for a week.
• Recently, China completed its large-scale military drills around Taiwan in response to the visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan.
• India has followed a “One China policy” since 1949 and maintained trade and cultural relations with Taiwan.
• India stopped mentioning this policy in its official statements after 2008.
• Taiwan Strait:
  • It is part of the South China Sea and connects the South China Sea and the East China Sea.
  • It is a 180 km long strait, separating Taiwan and mainland China.
  • China claims jurisdiction over the Taiwan Strait.
  • Around 20% of global trade passes through this strait.