Daily Current Affairs and GK | 8 April 2022
Main Headlines:
- 1. QS World University Rankings by Subject 2022 have been released.
- 2. RBI kept repo rate unchanged and projected real GDP growth of 7.2%.
- 3. Ketanji Brown Jackson became the first black woman US Supreme Court judge.
- 4. The book ‘The Maverick Effect’ has been released.
- 5. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic re-elected with a resounding victory.
- 6. An agreement signed between HAL and Israel Aerospace Industries for MMTT aircraft.
- 7. University Grants Commission (UGC) has decided to establish Bhima Bhoi chairs at two central universities.
- 8. UN General Assembly has passed a resolution to suspend Russia’s membership in Human Rights Council.
- 9. India’s agricultural products export value crossed 50 billion dollar mark.
- 10. Amar Mitra won the prestigious O. Henry Prize for Short Fiction.
- 11. Indian Scientists discovered a ghost-like galaxy.
- 12. Union Bank launched super app "Union nxt", under its digital initiative "Sambhav".
- 13. Civil Aviation Ministry launched International Air Connectivity Scheme (IACS) scheme.
- 14. Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology formed an advisory committee to guide on semiconductor mission.
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Topic: Reports and Indices/Ranking
1. QS World University Rankings by Subject 2022 have been released.
- QS Quacquarelli Symonds, a higher education think-tank, has released the ‘QS World University Rankings by Subject 2022’.
- The ranking has been released for a total of 51 disciplines grouped into five broad subject areas.
- The University of Oxford has topped the list with a score of 98 in the Arts and Humanities stream, followed by the University of Cambridge and Harvard University.
- The Jawaharlal Nehru University has got 188th place in the stream of Arts and Humanities.
- No Indian university has got a place in the top 100 universities in the Arts and Humanities.
- In the Engineering and Technology stream, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has got first place with a score of 96.5.
- The Indian Institute of Bombay and the Indian Institute of Delhi got 65th and 72nd ranks respectively. IIT Kharagpur has been ranked 101 with a score of 76.2.
- In Life Sciences and Medicine, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences has been placed at 204th rank while the University of Delhi got 330th rank.
- Harvard University has topped in the Life Sciences and Medicine and Social Sciences and Management streams.
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has got the first rank in the 12 disciplines.
Topic: Indian Economy
2. RBI kept repo rate unchanged and projected real GDP growth of 7.2%.
- The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has decided to keep the repo rate and reverse repo rate unchanged.
- The repo rate remained unchanged at 4 % for the 11th time while the reverse repo rate remains unchanged at 3.35 %.
- MSF rate and Bank rate remained unchanged at 4.25 %.
- RBI has projected that inflation will rise to 5.7 % from 4.5 % projected earlier for the current financial year.
- RBI has reduced its GDP growth rate forecast from 7.8 % to 7.2 % for FY23.
- The monetary policy committee (MPC) maintained an accommodative monetary policy stance.
- Note:
- MPC is a 6 member committee formed after the amendment in the RBI Act, 1934 through the Finance Act, 2016. Its main objective is to maintain price stability with growth.
- Repo rate is the interest rate at which the RBI provides short-term money to banks against the collateral of government and other approved securities.
- Reverse Repo Rate is the interest rate at which the RBI absorbs liquidity from banks against the collateral of eligible government securities.
Topic: Appointments
3. Ketanji Brown Jackson became the first black woman US Supreme Court judge.
- The Senate announced Ketanji Brown Jackson as the Supreme Court Judge, making her the 116th and first Black woman to serve on the nation's highest court.
- Jackson was nominated by President Joe Biden in February after Associate Justice Stephen Breyer announced his retirement from the Supreme Court.
- In the 233-year history of the Supreme Court, 108 of the 115 justices have been white men. Only five of them have been women, with three of them being black.
- First black woman Vice President Kamala Harris presided over the Senate for the vote.
Topic: Books and Authors
4. The book ‘The Maverick Effect’ has been released.
- "The Maverick Effect," a new book, tells the untold story of how, in the 1970s and 1980s, a "band of dreamers" came together to form NASSCOM and pave the way for India's IT revolution.
- Harish Mehta, the co-founder and first elected Chairperson of the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM), has authored this book.
- It is an authoritative biography of the apex body of software and IT service companies.
- The Indian IT industry directly employs more than four million people.
- As the world's greatest forex earner, it has aided millions of Indians in escaping poverty and moving into the middle class.
- National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM):
- It was established in 1988.
- It is a non-governmental trade association of the Indian software industry.
- It is a not-for-profit industry association.
- Rekha M.Menon is the current chairman.
- Its headquarters is in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
Topic: Appointments
5. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic re-elected with a resounding victory.
- According to the state election commission, Vučić received 58.5 % of the vote after 96.2 % of ballots were counted.
- Zdravko Ponos, a retired army general and the main opposition presidential candidate received 18.3 % of the vote.
- Aleksandar Vucic was first elected President in 2017, succeeding Tomislav Nikoli.
- Serbia:
- It is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe.
- Its capital is Belgrade.
- Its currency is the Serbian dinar.
- Its Prime Minister is Ana Brnabic.
Topic: MoUs/ Agreements
6. An agreement signed between HAL and Israel Aerospace Industries for MMTT aircraft.
- Defence PSU Undertaking Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) have signed an MoU to convert civil (Passenger) aircraft to Multi-Mission Tanker Transport (MMTT) aircraft.
- HAL will convert pre-owned Civil (passenger) aircraft into air refueling aircraft with cargo and transport capabilities under the agreed deal.
- The MoU will facilitate the decades-old expertise of HAL and IAI in the development, manufacturing, and production of key defence platforms.
- D Maiti, HAL's CEO, and Yaacov Berkovitz, IAI's VP signed the formal MoU in Delhi.
- Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL):
- It works under the Ministry of Defence.
- It is a government-owned corporation involved in the design, fabrication, and assembly of aircraft, jet engines, and helicopters.
- Its headquarters is located in Bangalore.
- It was formed on 1 October 1964.
Topic: National News
7. University Grants Commission (UGC) has decided to establish Bhima Bhoi chairs at two central universities.
- These universities are Delhi University and Guru Ghasidas University in Chhattisgarh.
- Bhima Bhoi was a 19th century saint-poet of Odisha. Bhima Bhoi is popularly referred to as Santha Kabi.
- He was a proponent of Mahima Dharma, a religion practiced in Odisha and surrounding states.
- He was a devotee of Mahima Swamy (Mahima Gosain), who founded Mahima Dharma.
- University Grants Commission (UGC):
- It was established in 1956.
- It is a statutory body set up under the UGC Act 1956.
- It is responsible for maintaining higher education standards in India.
Topic: International News
8. UN General Assembly has passed a resolution to suspend Russia’s membership in Human Rights Council.
- 93 countries voted in favour of the resolution, 24 voted against the resolution and 58 abstained from voting on the resolution.
- India also abstained from voting. Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh and the Maldives abstained from voting. China voted against the resolution.
- The resolution was put forward by Ukraine, the U.S., the EU, and several Latin American countries.
- For the passing of the resolution, a two-thirds majority of those present and voting was required.
- The resolution came after the mass graves and excesses of human rights have been recently found in Bucha city of Ukraine.
- Russia was elected to Human Rights Council (HRC) in 2020. Libya is the only member state to be suspended from the UNHRC. It was suspended in 2011.
- A three-membered panel of experts has been formed on 04 March 2022 to monitor human rights in Ukraine.
- Only Russia and Eritrea had opposed the resolution for the formation of this commission of enquiry.
- United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC):
- It is a body of the United Nations. It aims to promote and protect human rights worldwide.
- It has 47 members. Its members are elected for a three-year term. It was founded on 15 March 2006.
- It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
- Federico Villegas is the current president of UNHRC.
Topic: Agriculture and allied sectors
9. India’s agricultural products export value crossed 50 billion dollar mark.
- According to data released by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCIS), agricultural exports have grown by 19.92% during 2021-22.
- India’s agricultural products export reached its highest ever level during FY 2021-22.
- The export of Wheat has increased four-fold from $568 million in 2020-21 to $2.12 billion.
- The export of marine products also touched its highest peak at $7.71 billion.
- For the first time, the export of coffee crossed the $1 billion mark. Export of Spices reached $4 billion mark for the second consecutive year.
- Exports have taken place from clusters like Varanasi (fresh vegetables, mangoes), Ananthpur (banana), Nagpur (orange), Lucknow (mango), etc.
- Department of Commerce is promoting agriculture export through its various initiatives.
Topic: Awards and Prizes
10. Amar Mitra won the prestigious O. Henry Prize for Short Fiction.
- He received the award for his short story “The Old Man of Kusumpur” originally written in Bengali with the title “Gaonburo”. He is one of the 20 winners of the award.
- Gaonburo was written by Amar Mitra in 1977 in Bengali and was published in Amrita Patrika.
- Anish Gupta, a senior journalist, translated this story into English and it was published last year in the web magazine ‘The Common’.
- Amar Mitra has earlier also received the Sahitya Akademi Award and Bankim Puraskar.
- O. Henry Prize:
- It is awarded for short stories.
- It is conferred only to the writers whose short stories are published in Canada and America.
- Since 1919, it is being given in the memory of the acclaimed writer, O. Henry.
Topic: Space and IT
11. Indian Scientists discovered a ghost-like galaxy.
- Scientists of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics along with scientists from France have discovered a faint star-forming galaxy by using Ultra-Violet Imaging Telescope (UVIT).
- The galaxy has been named UVIT J2022. It appears like a ghost due to low disk density. It is located around 136 million light-years away.
- Scientists found the first clues about this galaxy when they looked at the scattered blue emission in a colour image of NGC 6902A.
- The Indo-French team of researchers found this galaxy while studying the NGC 6902A galaxy.
- The researchers also used data from the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer instrument located in Chile.
- Extremely faint galaxies are called low surface brightness galaxies or ultra-diffuse galaxies. They may account for up to 15 % of the mass of the universe.
(Source: News on AIR)
Topic: Banking System
12. Union Bank launched super app "Union nxt", under its digital initiative "Sambhav".
- Union Bank is planning to invest Rs 1,000-crore under digital initiatives in the financial year 2022-23.
- The super app UnionNXT will reduce the need to visit branches physically.
- Union Bank has also launched a Software Point of Sale digital application for payments and its customer relationship management.
- Union Bank will bring all the banking services on the UnionNXT super app.
- Union Bank has launched its digitization vertical last year. Currently, the bank has 1.6 crore customers digitally.
- Union Bank of India:
- It is a government-owned bank founded in 1919.
- Its CEO is Rajkiran Rai G.
- It is headquartered in Mumbai.
Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives
13. Civil Aviation Ministry launched International Air Connectivity Scheme (IACS) scheme.
- International Air Connectivity Scheme (IACS) scheme has been launched to enhance air connectivity between some selected states of India and International destinations.
- The scheme is supported by the State Governments. The state governments of Assam, Manipur and Tripura have identified some air routes.
- Under this scheme, Guwahati, Imphal and Agartala will be connected with Bangkok, Dhaka, Kathmandu, Yangon, Hanoi, Mandalay, Kunming & Chittagong.
- Currently, there are two international airports in the northeast region which are located at Guwahati and Imphal.
- The Airports Authority of India has taken several steps to boost international connectivity to/from North Eastern Region.
Topic: Committees/ Commissions/ Taskforces
14. Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology formed an advisory committee to guide on semiconductor mission.
- This 17 member committee will be headed by Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw while Rajeev Chandrasekhar will be the vice-chairperson.
- Niti Aayog member V K Saraswat, Principal scientific advisor to the Government of India, and secretaries of various departments will be members of this committee.
- The secretary of the ministry of electronics and information technology will be the convenor of the committee.
- Apart from these, Vinod Dham, Ajit Manocha, and Neelkanth Mishra will be also part of this advisory committee.
- The committee will give input to the government for building a resilient supply chain, promoting investments and innovation as well as intellectual property generation.
- The committee will also work to develop an ecosystem for startups and micro, small and medium scale industries.
- Last year, the Union Cabinet had approved a Rs 76,000 crore scheme for promoting semiconductor and display manufacturing.
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