Daily Current Affairs and GK | 8 September 2022

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

1. Cabinet approved signing of an MoU between India and UAE in the field of Education.

• The main aim of the MoU is to strengthen educational collaboration between India and UAE.
• India and the UAE had signed an MoU in the field of education in 2015, which expired in 2018.
• The new Memorandum of Understanding will be in line with India's National Education Policy 2020.
• It will promote the exchange of Information Education, Capacity Development of Technical and vocational Education and Training (TVET) teaching staff, and Facilitate academic collaboration.
• The Memorandum of Understanding will have a validity of five years and will automatically renew with both nations' approval.
• Union Cabinet also approved an MoU signed on mutual recognition of academic qualifications between India and the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland.
• It will promote the bilateral exchange of information related to educational structure, programs and standards. It will increase mobility of students and professionals.
• Its main aim is to facilitate the mutual recognition of educational qualifications, periods of study undertaken, documents related to academic degrees or qualifications and accreditation by educational institutions within the two countries. 

Topic: Space and IT

2. Counter Ransomware Exercise conducted by India and UK for 26 nations.

• The Cyber Security Exercise for 26 Countries was successfully conducted by India’s NSCS and the UK Government in collaboration with BAE Systems.
• The exercise has been conducted as part of the International Counter Ransomware Initiative- Resilience Working Group.
• This Working Group is being led by India under the leadership of National Cyber Security Coordinator (NCSC).
• National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) said the exercise has been facilitated by BAE Systems through the Immersive Labs platform.
• The theme of the exercise is based on Energy Sector.
• Respective National Cyber Crisis Management Teams of the CRI Partner Nations have to deal with a ransomware attack on multiple electricity distribution companies. 
• Recently, CERT-In designed and conducted the Cyber Security Exercise “Synergy” for 13 Countries in collaboration with the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore.

Topic: State News/ Tamil Nadu

3. Tamil Nadu government has launched Pudhumai Penn scheme.

• It is a financial assistance scheme aimed at motivating girl students from the lower strata of society to pursue their academic goals.
• While launching the initiative, the Tamil Nadu government gave the beneficiaries a savings bank account debit card across the southern districts on 05 September 2022.
• Under this scheme, all girls who studied from Classes VI to XII in government schools would get ₹1,000 a month till they complete their undergraduate degree, diploma and ITI courses.
• The financial support would be given to all eligible students in phases every month.

Topic: State News/ Tripura

4. India’s first modified bio-village is located in Tripura.

• The lifestyle and livelihood in Daspara village have been converted to a nature-based lifestyle and livelihood.
• Deputy Chief Minister of Tripura, Jishnu Dev Varma, said that the village reduced the use of chemical fertilizer.
• He said this is one of the successful bio-village 2.0 conceptualised in Tripura.
• London-based Climate Group recognized the eco-friendly technology used in the bio-village as one of the 10 best practices in the world.
• Climate Group is a London-based international non-government research organisation.
• Bio-village 2.0:
  • Tripura has implemented the bio-village 2.0 components across 10 villages.
  • Under bio-village 2.0, marginalized people were targeted to modify their lifestyle and livelihood to an adaptive behaviour of nature-based technology promoted by the directorate of biotechnology.  
  • Bio villages had the practice of only organic farming. Bio-village 2.0 has incorporated some other components like the use of renewable energy.

Topic: International Appointments

5. Suella Braverman, an Indian-origin barrister, has been appointed Home Secretary in the United Kingdom.

• Prime Minister Liz Truss has appointed her a new Home Secretary.
• She replaced her Indian-origin colleague Priti Patel.
• The 42-year-old Braverman of the ruling Conservative Party had served as attorney general in the previous government led by Boris Johnson.
• She was among the contenders to succeed former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
• Recently, Liz Truss became the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after being appointed leader of the country's main conservative party.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Awards and Prizes

6. PR Sreejesh, Harmanpreet Singh, and Savita Punia nominated for FIH awards for the 2021-22 season.

• Harmanpreet Singh has been nominated for the FIH Men’s Player of the Year Award.
• PR Sreejesh and Savita Punia have been nominated for the FIH Men’s and Women’s Goalkeeper of the Year, respectively.
• There is no Indian nominee for FIH Women's Player of the Year.
• All three had also won awards in the 2020-21 season in their categories.
• Graham Reid, head coach of the Indian men's team, has been nominated for the FIH Men's Team Coach of the Year award.
• Janneke Schopman, coach of the Indian women's team, has been nominated for the FIH Women's Team Coach of the Year award.
• Graham Reid was selected coach of the year for men's teams in 2020-21.
• Mumtaz Khan and Sanjay have been nominated for Rising Player of the Year for women and men, respectively.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

7. Union Cabinet has approved PM SHRI Schools (PM ScHools for Rising India) scheme.

• PM SHRI Schools is a new centrally sponsored scheme. This scheme will be for the development of over 14500 schools as PM SHRI Schools.
• Under the scheme, the schools will be developed as PM SHRI Schools by strengthening select existing schools being managed by Central Government/ State/ UT Government/ local bodies.
• The scheme of PM SHRI schools is to be implemented with a total project cost of Rs. 27360 crores.
• This includes a central share of Rs. 18128 crores for the period of five years from the year 2022-23 to 2026-27.
• PM SHRI School would be implemented through the existing administrative structure available for Samagra Shiksha, KVS & NVS.
• Selection of PM SHRI schools will be done through Challenge Mode.
• More than 18 lakh students are expected to be direct beneficiaries of the scheme.
• Key features of the scheme:
  • PM SHRI will provide high-quality education in an equitable, inclusive and joyful school environment.
  • PM SHRI will provide high-quality education that takes care of diverse backgrounds, multilingual needs, and different academic abilities of children.
  • PM SHRI Schools will provide leadership to other schools in their respective regions by providing mentorship.
  • The PM SHRI Schools will be developed as Green schools.
  • They will incorporate environment-friendly aspects like solar panels and LED lights, nutrition gardens with natural farming, waste management, plastic-free, water conservation, and harvesting.
  • Pedagogy in PM SHRI schools will be more experiential, play/toy-based, inquiry-driven, learner-centred, discussion-based, flexible and enjoyable.

Topic: Personality in News

8. Artist Ram Chandra Manjhi passed away in a hospital in Patna, Bihar.

• He was famous as the doyen of Bhojpuri folk theatre art “Launda Naach”.
• He was born in a riverine village Tujarpur in the Nagra block of Saran district in Bihar.
• He was the oldest member of a troupe of great folk artist and Bhojpuri poet with the sobriquet “Shakespeare of Bhojpuri” Bhikhari Thakur.
• He was felicitated with Sangeet Natak Academy Award. He was a Padma Shri awardee in the field of Arts.
• President Ram Nath Kovind honoured him with Padma Shri in 2021.
• Launda Naach:
  • The Launda Naach is a prominent Bhojpuri folk art of Bihar comprising songs, dance, comedy, satire, parody and theatre.
  • In Launda Naach, men impersonate women wearing sari, blouse, long hair wig during the performance.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: National News

9. Union Cabinet approved a long-term leasing policy of railway land for the PM Gati Shakti programme.

• The new policy will help in increasing the railway’s share in freight transportation and increase the revenue of railways.
• The policy change will help in the construction of 300 cargo terminals and the creation of 1.25 lakh jobs.
• The new policy will provide land leases for up to 35 years, rather than the current five years.
• The new land policy of railway land will pave way for privatisation of the Container Corporation of India (Concor). Concor is involved in the transportation and handling of containers under the aegis of the Ministry of Railway.
• The new policy will help in the development of public utilities like electricity, gas, water supply, telecom cable, sewage disposal, drains, optical fibre cables (OFC), pipelines, etc.
• The policy will also allow the use of railway land at a nominal cost for the establishment of solar plants on railway land.
• Under PM Gati Shakti Programme, the approvals for setting up the utilities envisaged will be simplified.
• The Union Cabinet has also approved the implementation of phase two of the Kochi Metro Rail Project from Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium to Infopark through Kakkanad.

Topic: Important Days

10. International Literacy Day: 8 September

• Every year, International Literacy Day is observed to raise awareness about literacy as a human right and to encourage the creation of a more literate society.
• “Transforming Literacy Learning Spaces” is theme of the International Literacy Day for the year 2022.
• The theme reflects the importance of literate environments and ensures high-quality, equitable, and inclusive education for all.
• UNESCO declared September 8 as International Literacy Day on 26 October 1966. This day was included under the UN’s program for achieving Sustainable Development Goals in 2015.
• International Literacy Day was first celebrated in 1967.
• At present, around 771 million people around the world lack basic literacy abilities. Literacy plays a key role in the development of a society or a person.
• On this occasion, UNESCO has organized a two-day hybrid international event in Côte d’Ivoire.

Topic: Reports and Indices/ Rankings

11. FAO has released Blue Transformation- Roadmap 2022-30.

• Food and Agriculture Organsation has released its vision document on aquatic food systems for 2022-30.
• The roadmap is in sync with the FAO’s 2021 Declaration for Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture of the Committee on Fisheries and FAO’s Strategic Framework 2022-31.
• The roadmap recognises the significance of aquatic food systems in stimulating economic growth, employment, social development and environmental recovery.
• As per FAO, Aquatic Food Systems include the entire range of actors and their interlinked value-added activities involved in the production, aggregation, processing, distribution, consumption and disposal of aquatic food products that originate from fisheries and aquaculture and parts of the broader economic, societal and natural environments in which they are embedded (lakes, wetlands, oceans, etc.).
• As per the roadmap, Blue Transformation is a targeted effort by which agencies, countries and dependent communities, use existing and emerging knowledge, tools and practices to secure and sustainably maximize the contribution of aquatic (both marine and inland) food systems to food security, nutrition and affordable healthy diets for all.
• Need for Blue Transformation:
  • Prevalence of hunger and malnutrition in all its forms globally
  • Owing to climate change and environmental concerns, global food system is failing to provide safe, nutritious, sustainable and equitable diets.
  • Rising population and affluence leading to increase in demand for more food and resource-intensive diets
• India launched Blue Revolution in India in 2015-16. The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare merged the all ongoing schemes under an umbrella of Blue Revolution.

Topic: Indian Polity

12. Justice M Duraiswamy appointed as Acting Chief Justice of the Madras High Court.

• He replaced Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari.
• Before being appointed Chief Justice of Madras High Court, he was the senior judge in the State’s high court.
• Madras High Court was one of the three High Courts in India established at the Presidency Towns in 1862.
• Chief Justice of High Court:
  • President of India under Article 223 of the Indian Constitution appoints Acting Chief Justice of High Court in consultation with Chief Justice of India and the Governor of that State.
  • A Chief Justice of High Court holds the office until he completes the age of 62 years.
  • Governor of the state or LG in UT or a person appointed by President administers oath of office to Chief Justice of High Court.
  • Article 222 is related to the transfer of Chief Justice from one High Court to another.

Topic: Important Days

13. International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies: 7 September

• The United Nations General Assembly has designated 7 September as the International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies.
• Its main aim is to strengthen international cooperation for improving air quality and reducing air pollution.
• The Air We Share is the theme of this year’s International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies.
• It highlights the need for collaborative responsibility and action beyond national boundaries against air pollution.
• The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution on December 19, 2019, to observe 7 September as the International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies.
• According to a new study, more than 10 million people die from air pollution every year.

Topic: Government Schemes and Initiatives

14. Minister of State of Education, Smt. Annpurna Devi, inaugurated Shikshak Parv 2022.

• Shikshak Parv is being observed to honour teachers and to encourage the implementation of the National Education Policy 2020.
• Shikshak Parv 2022 will be celebrated from 5th-30th September.
• Shikshak Parv 2022 began with the inaugural conclave organized by the Ministry of Education, CBSE, AICTE, and the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship in New Delhi.
• On this occasion, a number of initiatives have been launched by the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship. These initiatives have been given below:
• Shiksha Shabdkosh
  • It has been prepared by the Department of School Education & Literacy.
  • It is a comprehensive glossary of important terminologies in the area of school education
  • It will help educationists, educational administrators, teachers, examiners, etc.
• Handbook for Early Detection of Mental Health issues in school going children: It is a comprehensive handbook on the training of teachers, counsellors, and other stakeholders.
• Report on National Mental Health Survey
  • It is a report on school students' mental health and well-being based on a survey conducted by Manodarpan Cell.
  • It provides information related to the mental health and well-being of students from classes 6 to 12.
  • The survey found that studies, examinations and results are the main cause of anxiety in students.
• National Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Study report
  • The report covered 86,000 grade 3 students from 10,000 schools.
  • The study assessed children's learning abilities at the foundational stage. The finding of the study will be used to plan systematic programs.
• Screening Tools Mobile App for Specific Learning Disabilities and Glossary
  • A Disability Screening Checklist for Schools' mobile app and booklet was launched.
  • This app has been designed by NCERT with the help of a National Awardee School Teacher from Alwar, Rajasthan.
  • It will provide services like early screening and certification of children with disabilities.
• Launch of Toy based Pedagogy: It has been designed to encourage the incorporation of indigenous toys and pedagogy into the curricula of School Education, Early Childhood Care and Education, and Teacher Education.