Daily Current Affairs and GK | 6 August 2024

Topic: Banking System

1. RBI revised NPAs provision norms for co-operative banks to ensure uniformity.

• The Reserve Bank of India issued norms for uniformity in the treatment of Bad and Doubtful Debt Reserve (BDDR) for prudential purposes.
• These revised norms will be for Urban cooperative Banks, State Cooperative Banks and Central cooperative Banks.
• It will come into force with immediate effect.
• RBI has also prescribed specific steps to facilitate rectification and easy transition to an accounting standard compliant approach.
• RBI directed that appropriation should be made directly from the P&L Account or General Reserves to make provisions for NPAs by March 31, 2025.

Topic: Art and Culture

2. “VIRAASAT” exhibition began at Handloom Haat in Janpath on 3rd August, 2024.

• “VIRAASAT” is a fortnight long exhibition dedicated to celebrating 10th National Handloom Day.
• It is being organised by National Handloom Development Corporation Ltd (NHDC) under the aegis of the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India.
• “VIRAASAT” will end on 16th August, 2024. The "VIRAASAT" exhibition is an extension of the festivities around National Handloom Day that were conducted the year before.
• August 7th, this year, is National Handloom Day's tenth anniversary.
• The Swadeshi Movement began on August 7, 1905. The Indian government chose to observe August 7th as National Handloom Day annually in 2015.
• On August 7, 2015, Hon. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi celebrated the inaugural National Handloom Day in Chennai.

Topic: Defence

3. The production of 200 Astra missiles has been approved by Air Force.

• The DRDO and the BDL have received clearance from Indian Air Force (IAF) to produce 200 Astra air-to-air missiles for its Su-30 and LCA Tejas fighter aircraft.
• Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is the development agency for the project, Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) is the production agency for it
• Defence Acquisition Council had cleared the programme for IAF and Indian Navy.
• Under this, 248 missiles were expected to be produced for IAF and Indian Navy in 2022-23.
• The Astra Mark 1 missile is a predecessor to the Mark 2. It has already been inducted into the IAF and the Navy. Astra Mark 1 missile has a range of up to 100 kilometres.
• First test of Astra Mark 2 missiles is expected soon.

Topic: Summits/Conferences/Meetings

4. The 14th Defence Policy Dialogue between Vietnam and India was held in New Delhi on August 01, 2024.

• Vietnam's deputy minister of national defence, Senior Lieutenant General, Hoang Xuan Chien and Defence Secretary Shri Giridhar Aramane co-chaired the meeting.
• The two parties acknowledged during the meeting the progress in their relationship following the signing of the "Joint Vision Statement on India-Vietnam Defence Partnership towards 2030" in June 2022.
• Vietnam proposed five focus areas for cooperation.
• These included staff conversations, delegate exchanges, education and training, service-to-service interaction, and defence industry cooperation.
• Following the meeting, a Letter of Intent to enhance training cooperation was signed by Vietnam's Deputy Minister of National Defence and Defence Secretary.
• Defence cooperation is a strong pillar of India and Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

Topic: Defence

5. On August 6, the first multinational air exercise, 'Taranga Shakti 2024', started in Sular, Tamil Nadu.

• India is hosting its first multinational air exercise, ‘Taranga Shakti 2024’ from August 6 to September 14.
• Around 30 countries will participate in this exercise and ten of these countries will join the exercise with their fighter aircraft.
• The exercise is being conducted in two phases with the aim to showcase India's defence capabilities and provide a platform to promote inter-operability among the participating armies.
• The first phase is being held from August 6 to 14 in Sular, Tamil Nadu, and the second phase will be held from August 29 to September 14 in Jodhpur, Rajasthan.
• 10 countries, including Australia, Bangladesh, France, Germany, Greece, Spain, the UAE, the United Kingdom, the USA, and Singapore, are participating in the exercise with their aircraft, and 18 countries are participating as observers.
• India will showcase its indigenous fighter aircraft and equipment, and Indian fighter aircraft, including Tejas, Rafale, Mirage 2000, Jaguar, and MiG 29 aircraft, will take part in the exercise.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

6. The President of Fiji conferred the Companion of the Order of Fiji on President Droupadi Murmu.

• President Droupadi Murmu who is on a two-day visit to Fiji.
• She addressed the Fijian Parliament and recalled the 75 years diplomatic association between the India and Fiji.
• President Murmu held a bilateral meeting with her counterpart, Williame Katonivere.
• President Murmu thanked the Fijian Government for their support for Aditya L1 Mission.
• President Murmu recalled support provided by India to Fiji at the time of Covid-19 crisis through the Vaccine Maitri initiative.
• The Companion of the Order of Fiji is the highest honour of Fiji.
• Fiji is an island country in Melanesia (part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean). It is an archipelago of over 300 islands. Suva is its capital.

Topic: National News

7. The Digital Shakti Centre has been inaugurated by the National Commission for Women in New Delhi to fight cybercrimes against women.

• In partnership with the Cyber Peace Foundation, National Commission for Women (NCW) Chairperson Ms. Rekha Sharma inaugurated the Digital Shakti Centre.
• The centre aims to increase public awareness of cyber crimes. It will offer crucial technical assistance for filing and handling complaints.
• The commission highlighted how important this program is to giving women the confidence to use technology safely and effectively.
• It stated that the facility will provide professional advice to guarantee prompt and efficient resolution of cybercrime concerns, based on the success of its Digital Shakti program.
• In 2018, the Digital Shakti program was introduced.
• According to Ms. Sharma, the number of cybercrime cases in India has increased, going from 52,974 in 2021 to 65,893 in 2022.
• She noted that more complaints about cybercrimes against women had been received by the NCW.

Topic: State News/ Karnataka

8. Karnataka government formed a task force to clear encroachments in forests and Western Ghats.

• Karnataka government has formed a 'forests and western ghats encroachment clearance task force'.
• This task force has been formed to clear illegal resorts, homestays and all forest encroachments in the entire Western Ghats.
• This task force has been formed under the leadership of the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Head of Forest Force.
• The forest department's additional chief secretary issued orders for the removal of all forest encroachments in Western Ghats region.
• This decision has been taken after seeing the tragedies caused by landslides at Wayanad.
• Landslides are continuously occurring in the Western Ghats regions including Shiradi Ghat, and Charmadi Ghat.
• Section 64A of the Karnataka Forest Act deals with encroachment of forest land and ways to evict encroachers.

Topic: Personality in News

9. A Moon crater has been named after Pasang Lhamu Sherpa.

• Lhamu Pasang Sherpa is the first Nepalese woman to reach on the Mount Everest summit.
• Nepal celebrated the naming of a crater at the Moon’s South Pole in honor of Pasang Lhamu Sherpa.
• The US Geological Survey as well as topographic and hydrological features of Earth has named this cater after Sherpa.
• The Government of Nepal has honored her by declaring Pasang Lhamu a National Luminary.

Topic: Sports

10. India's two-time Olympic bronze medallist Manu Bhaker named India's flag-bearer for the closing ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

• Bhaker will represent India as the women's flag bearer during the event.
• On August 11, the closing ceremony of the Paris Olympics will be held.
• India's men's flag bearer for the ceremony has not been confirmed yet.
• Bhakar performed brilliantly in Paris, breaking several records and winning two bronze medals.
• Manu Bhaker won her first bronze medal in the women's 10 metre air pistol event.
• Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh won a bronze medal in mixed 10 m air pistol.

Topic: Summit/Conference/Meeting

11. The first BIMSTEC Business Summit is being hosted by India from 6-8 August in New Delhi.

• This conference is an important step towards promoting greater regional cooperation in the Bay of Bengal region.
• The Ministry of External Affairs is organising this three-day event in partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
• External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar inaugurated the summit.
• The event is being attended by a wide range of participants, including ministers from BIMSTEC member countries responsible for trade, commerce, industry, and energy, high-ranking government officials, policymakers, entrepreneurs, and industry associations.
• The aim of the first edition of the Business Summit is to promote greater regional cooperation through stronger trade and investment ties among the member countries of BIMSTEC.
• The Ministry of External Affairs emphasised India's commitment to BIMSTEC, which links five South Asian countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, India and Sri Lanka) with two South East Asian countries (Myanmar and Thailand).

Topic: India and its Neighbours

12. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and left Bangladesh.

• Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and left the country. It ended her 15 years of power.
• Bangladesh's army chief, General Waker-Uz-Zaman, said an interim government would take charge.
• He promised that the military would launch an investigation into the deadly crackdown on student protesters.
• The government attempted to quash the demonstrations with force, curfews and internet shutdowns.
• Nearly 300 people were killed in these demonstrations, leading to demands of Sheikh Hasina resignation.
• Sheikh Hasina served as the prime minister of Bangladesh from June 1996 to July 2001 and later from January 2009 to August 2024.
• She is the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the first president of Bangladesh.

Topic: Agriculture and allied sectors

13. India retained the eighth position in global agriculture exports in 2023.

• India retained the eighth position in global agriculture exports despite a drop in its agriculture exports from $55 billion in 2022 to $51 billion in 2023.
• Brazil, the European Union and Thailand are the leading exporters of agricultural products.
• The other seven economies in the top 10 saw a decrease in their exports of agricultural products.
• The top ten exporters registered a 71.9 percent share of world exports in 2023.
• Agriculture exports in India have decreased due to geopolitical factors such as the Red Sea crisis and the continuing Russia-Ukraine war.
• EU maintained its top position in 2023 by exporting agricultural produce valued at $836 billion.
• Brazil’s agriculture exports increased to $157 billion in 2023 from $148 billion in 2022. It secured the third position.
• China was the fourth largest agriculture exporter in 2023.
• Canada, Mexico, Indonesia and Australia are in the top ten agriculture exporters.