Daily Current Affairs and GK | 5 August 2022

Topic: Indian Economy

1. RBI hiked the repo rate from 4.90% to 5.4%.

• The Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) increased the repo rate by 50 basis points to 5.4%. Since May 2022, the repo rate has increased by 140 basis points.
• The increase in repo rate will increase the lending rates and EMIs of existing home loan customers.
• The main aim of increasing the repo rate is to control the rising inflation.
• For the current financial year, the RBI retained its CPI inflation forecast of 6.7 per cent.
• RBI Governor said that the inflation trajectory will depend upon global markets and geopolitical developments.
• The Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) rate will be 5.15 per cent while Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) Rate will remain 5.65 per cent.
• The real GDP growth projection for 2022-23 retained at 7.2 per cent with Q1 - 16.2 per cent, Q2 - 6.2 per cent, Q3 - 4.1 per cent and Q4 - 4 per cent.
• GDP growth for the first quarter is projected to be 6.7 per cent.

Topic: State News/Haryana

2. Haryana government recently launched the “Chief Minister Equal Education Relief, Assistance and Grant (Cheerag)” scheme.

• This scheme allows government school students to enroll in private schools from Class II to XII.
• This is applicable to only those government school students whose parents have an annual verified income of less than Rs 1.8 lakh.
• Haryana government will reimburse Rs 700 per student for Classes II to V, Rs 900 per student for Classes VI to VIII, and Rs 1,100 per student for Classes IX to XII.
• The scheme was launched to offer “free education” to EWS students of government schools in “budget” private schools.
• The Right to Education (RTE) Act has provisions to provide admission up to 25% in private schools to Economically Weaker Section (EWS) families and Scheduled Castes for Classes I to VIII without any expenses.

Topic: State News/Assam

3. Assam Chief Minister launched 'Mission Bhumiputra'.

• It is a digital way to issue digitalized caste certificates to students.
• He also inaugurated a Bhumiputra Portal at a programme held at Srimanta Sankardev Kalakshetra.
• Mission Bhumiputra is being implemented by the Departments of Tribal Affairs (Plain) and Social Justice Empowerment.
• It is being implemented to carry forward the government's mission of providing easy public service to the public.
• Assam CM said that government will create two pillars under the mission. The manual system of issuing caste certificates will be ceased.
• The digitalized caste certificates will be available in the Digi locker.
• Chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the government will release a Tribal Land Policy.
• He said the Tribal Land Policy is expected to be released on October 2 this year.
• He also said it will increase the land holding of a tribal person from the present 8 bighas to 50 bighas.

Topic: National News

4. Indian Navy's team of women officers completed the first independent maritime surveillance mission in the North Arabian Sea on a Dornier 228 aircraft.

• The mission was accomplished by five women officers of Naval Air Squadron-INAS-314 at Naval Air Enclave at Porbandar, Gujarat.
• The mission was captained by Lieutenant Commander Aanchal Sharma.
• Her team consisted of Pilot Lt Shivangi and Lt Apoorva Geete.
• Lt. Pooja Panda and Sub Lt. Pooja Shekhawat, as tactical and censor officers, assisted in the mission.
• INAS-314 is the flagship squadron of the Navy. It is based in Porbandar, Gujarat. It is currently operational under western naval command.

Topic: Summits/Conferences/Meetings

5. Anti-Terrorism Committee special meeting will be hosted by India in October.

• India will host and chair the Security Council diplomats from 15 countries, including the US, China, and Russia, for a special meeting of the Anti-Terrorism Committee of 2022 in October.
• The meeting will be held in Delhi and Mumbai in October.
• India's two-year term as an elected non-permanent member of the UN Security Council will end in December 2022.
• The issues related to the growing threats from new and emerging technologies will be discussed in the meeting.
• In the meeting, India is expected to highlight cross-border threats from Pakistan and Afghanistan.
• In addition, India has been pushing for the UN members to adopt a Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (first proposed in 1996), which is likely to be raised during the meeting.
• In the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) was set up in 2001.

Topic: National Appointment

6. Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, Shweta Singh has been appointed as a director in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

• She is an IFS officer of the 2008 batch.
• Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) approved Shweta Singh's appointment for three years from her joining date.
• Prime Minister's Office (PMO):
  • It consists of the Prime Minister of India's immediate staff as well as multiple levels of support personnel who report to the Prime Minister.
  • The PMO was formerly known as the Prime Minister's Secretariat until 1977, and it was renamed during the Morarji Desai ministry.
  • Pramod Kumar Misra is currently heading the Prime Minister's Office.
  • It was formed in 1947. It is headquartered in New Delhi.

Topic: State News/ Madhya Pradesh

7. The largest floating solar power plant in the world will be built in Madhya Pradesh.

• It is estimated that the project will be worth over Rs. 3000 crores.
• A floating solar power plant will be built in Khandwa. It will generate 600 Megawatt power by 2022-23.
• It will be built on the Narmada River, near Omkareshwar Dam.
• Khandwa will be the only district in Madhya Pradesh, which will have thermal power stations, hydel and solar power together.
• India’s largest 100 MW floating Solar Power Project is now fully operational at NTPC-Ramagundam in Telangana.

Topic: Indian Polity

8. Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022 has come into effect from 04 August 2022.

• It has empowered the Police or Prison Officers to take measurements of any person who resists or refuses to give measurements.
• Under the act, the National Crime Records Bureau of India has been empowered to collect, store and preserve the record of measurements.
• It has also been empowered for sharing, dissemination, destruction and disposal of records.
• The measurements include finger impressions, palm-print and foot-print impressions, photographs, iris and retina scan, physical, biological samples and their analysis.
• Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022 has replaced the Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920. Lok Sabha passed it in April 2022.

Topic: Indian Polity

9. Government tabled Energy Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2022 in the Lok Sabha.

• The bill has provisions for mandatory use of non-fossil sources including green hydrogen, green ammonia, biomass and ethanol for energy and feedstock.
• It also proposed setting up carbon trading markets and aims to achieve energy security.
• It will bring large residential buildings under the ambit of energy conservation.
• It will help in reducing carbon emissions to the atmosphere and increase investments in clean energy and energy efficiency areas.
• The bill also seeks to enhance the scope of the energy conservation building code and increase members in the governing council of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency.
• It will also empower the state electricity regulatory commissions for its smooth functioning.
• The Energy Conservation Act (EC Act) was enacted in 2001 for reducing the energy intensity of the Indian economy.

Topic: Space and IT

10. NASA is planning to send two more helicopters as part of its Mars Sample Return Program.

• Last year, NASA’s first helicopter ‘Ingenuity’ collected 11 samples of MARS surface.
• NASA is sending two more helicopters to bring rocks and dust from MARS to the Earth.
• These helicopters will be similar to the Ingenuity but have the added ability to grab and transport small tubes filled with bits of Martian rock.
• They will be part of NASA’s next mission in association with the European Space Agency for examining the rocks of Mars.
• The first helicopter ‘Ingenuity’ was part of the Perseverance rover. The rover collected the sample during its exploration of a crater named Jezero.
• These helicopters will carry the sample collected by the Perseverance rover back to the lander.
• These helicopters will be of almost the same size as Ingenuity but have small wheels at the bottom of the landing legs.

Topic: National Appointment

11. Praveen Kumar Srivastava and Arvinda Kumar have been appointed as Vigilance Commissioners.

• Praveen Kumar Srivastava and Arvinda Kumar have been appointed as Vigilance Commissioners in the Central Vigilance Commission by the President.
• The Central Vigilance Commission Act, 2003 has provisions for the appointment of the Central Vigilance Commissioner and two Vigilance Commissioners.
• Praveen Kumar Srivastava is an Indian Administrative Service officer. He has also served as Chief Vigilance Officer in RITES Ltd.
• Arvinda Kumar served as the 27^th Director of the Intelligence Bureau from June 30, 2019, to June 30, 2022.
• The Central Vigilance Commission consists of a chairperson and two Vigilance Commissioners.
• Vigilance Commissioners are appointed by the President on the recommendation of a Committee, comprised of the PM, Home Minister and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.

(Source: PIB)

Topic: State News/ Telangana

12. Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao inaugurated Telangana State Police Integrated Command and Control Centre.

• The Telangana state police’s new integrated command and control centre and Hyderabad Police Commissionerate have been inaugurated on Road Number 12, Banjara Hills.
• The command and control centre has been constructed at a cost of over 600 crores. It was commissioned in 2016.
• The building has a helipad and a disaster and crisis management centre. It has also a data centre and a war room with a live feed from across the city.
• This building is spread across 6.42 lakh sq ft and has a 480-seat auditorium.
• This building has backup centres related to Dial 100 emergency response, women’s safety, cybercrime, narcotics cell, etc.
• It has also a museum showcasing the history of the Telangana police.

Topic: Space and IT

13. South Korea is set to launch its first lunar mission "Danuri" on 4^th August.

• South Korea will launch its first lunar probe from Cape Canaveral Space Force Base in Florida.
• South Korea will be the seventh country in the world to launch an unmanned ‘lunar Probe’.
• A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will take the spacecraft into space. The spacecraft will carry a total of six payloads.
• The spacecraft has been developed by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI).
• Danuri, which means enjoy the moon in Korean, will study moon carters, magnetic fields, and surface weathering.
• Danuri mission includes taking measurements of the Moon’s magnetic field, testing wireless internet from Earth to space, and looking for hidden sources of water and ice.
• Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) has joined hands with NASA for this mission. NASA has provided deep space communication and navigation technology for the mission.

Topic: International News

14. USA used ‘Hellfire R 9X’ missile to kill al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri.

• The United States has killed al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri in a drone strike in Afghanistan by using the ‘Hellfire R 9X’ missile.
• The US launched Hellfire R 9X missiles from its MQ-9 Reaper drones.
• Ayman al-Zawahiri was the successor of Osama Bin Laden.
• MQ-9 Reaper drones have been manufactured by General Atomics.
• What is the Hellfire 9X missile?
  • It is formally known as AGM-114R9X. It is also known as ‘flying Ginsu’ and Ninja Bomb.
  • It has blades that can cut through buildings or car roofs to reach the target.
  • It has six blades that fly at high speed and shreds the target without triggering any blast.
  • It is used particularly when a terrorist leader has been pinpointed and there are innocent civilians around the target.
  • It is about five feet long and weighs over 100 pounds. It has 45 kg of reinforced metal at its tip.