Daily Current Affairs and GK | 9 April 2022

Topic: Reports and Indices/Ranking

1. Global Wind Energy Council released Global Wind Report 2022.

• According to the Global Wind Report 2022, 93.6 gigawatts of wind capacity have been installed in 2021, less than the 95.3 GW installed in 2020.
• Total capacity has increased to 837 GW. In 2021, 21.1 GW has been installed in the offshore wind segment while 72.5 GW has been installed in the onshore wind segment.
• The wind installation capacity has decreased in China and United States.
• According to this report, wind installation capacity should be quadrupled in a decade to meet the 2050 goals.
• India added 1.45 GW of wind capacity in 2021, an increase of 30% as compared to last year. India’s wind capacity installation rate had slowed down between April to mid-June 2021.
• The National Institute of Wind Energy has assessed more than 300 GW onshore wind potential and 700 GW offshore wind potential.
• As per this report, India can further add wind capacity by repowering older KW-rated wind turbines through a proper repowering policy.

Topic: Banking System

2. RBI has released guidelines for the establishment of digital banking units (DBU).

• The guidelines have been released as part government’s announcement in Union Budget 2022-23.
• In Union Budget 2022-23, the government announced that 75 digital banking units will be set up in 75 districts to mark 75 years of Independence of India.
• Guidelines would be applicable to all domestic scheduled commercial banks.
• Guidelines would not apply to Regional Rural Banks, Payment Banks and Local Area Banks.
• In guidelines, RBI has permitted all scheduled commercial banks having digital banking experience to open DBUs in Tier 1 to Tier 6 centres.
• These banks do not need to take permission from RBI. The DBUs will be treated as Banking Outlets (BOs).
• The facilities at DBUs can be insourced or outsourced. Banks can adopt an in-sourced or out-sourced model for the operation of DBUs.
• Banks should include the setting up of DBUs in their digital banking strategy.
• Through the DBU, banks can offer any product or service that can be delivered digitally via internet banking or mobile banking.
• Banks should have digital business facilitator/business correspondents to expand coverage of DBUs.
• Performance update about DBUs also needs to be submitted to Department of Supervision, RBI on monthly basis and in the annual report.

Topic: Defence

3. Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet (SFDR) booster has been successfully flight tested by DRDO.

• The SFDR booster has been successfully flight tested at Integrated Test Range, Chandipur off the coast of Odisha.
• SFDR-based propulsion enables missiles to intercept airborne threats over very long distances at supersonic speeds (more than 1 Mach).
• Defence Research and Development Laboratory, Hyderabad has developed SFDR in partnership with other DRDO laboratories.
• These laboratories are Research Centre Imarat, Hyderabad and High Energy Materials Research Laboratory, Pune.

(Source: News on AIR)

Topic: State News/Uttarakhand

4. 'Corruption-Free Uttarakhand App-1064' has been launched by Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami.

• 'Corruption-Free Uttarakhand App-1064' is available in both Hindi and English.
• It has been developed by the vigilance department.
• Uttarakhand CM said that the government is committed to make Uttarakhand corruption-free.
• Uttarakhand:
  • It was formed as the 27^th state of India on 9 November 2000.
  • Gurmit Singh is Governor of Uttarakhand.
  • Its winter capital is Dehradun. It shares borders with Tibet, Nepal, Uttar Pradesh, and Himachal Pradesh.

Topic: State News/Gujarat

5. World Bank granted Rs 3000 cr loan to Ahmedabad under the Gujarat Resilient City Development Program.

• Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) will receive the loan for setting up new sewage treatment plants (STPs) and augmenting existing capacity. 
• The funds will also be used to develop the Kharicut canal in the eastern parts of Ahmedabad.
• Bhupendra Patel presided over a meeting of AMC officials and representatives from the World Bank on urban development issues.
• The World Bank provides loans to civic bodies through the Resilient City Development Program in order to carry out long-term planning and sustainable development works.
• Gujarat:
  • It is a coastal state of India. Its capital is Gandhinagar.
  • Governor: Acharya Dev Vrat, Chief Minister: Bhupendra Patel
  • Lok Sabha seats: 26, Rajya Sabha seats: 11

Topic: National News

6. Cabinet approved a one-time window for government companies to surrender non-operational coal mines.

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the Ministry of Coal's proposal to give Central and State PSUs a one-time window to surrender non-operational mines without penalty (bank guarantee forfeiture) and without specifying any reason.
• This could result in the auctioning of multiple coal mines that the present Government PSU allottees are unable to develop or are uninterested in and could be auctioned, as per the current auction policy.
• The allottee Government Companies would have three months from the date of publication of the approved surrender policy to surrender the coal mines.
• According to the government, many of the coal blocks were allocated to PSUs following the Supreme Court's cancellation order of coal blocks in 2014.
• 45 mines out of 73 coal mines allotted to government enterprises remained non-operational until December 2021, and the due date for starting mining operations in 19 coal mines has already passed.

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

7. Cabinet has approved bilateral MoU between SEBI and Financial Regulatory Commission (FRC) of Mongolia.

• The MoU would help in setting up a technical assistance programme. It will also strengthen the information-sharing framework. 
• Both FRC and SEBI are co-signatory to IOSCO MMoU.
• International Organization of Securities Commissions’ Multilateral MoU (IOSCO MMoU) does not cover technical assistance.
• SEBI has signed 27 bilateral MoUs with capital market regulators of other countries.
• International Organization of Securities Commissions is an association of the world’s securities market regulating organizations.
• It is headquartered in Madrid, Spain. It was formed in 1983.
• 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: Space and IT

8. China has successfully launched Gaofen-3 03 from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre using Long March-4C rocket.

• Gaofen-3 03 is a new earth observation satellite. It will be a part of land-sea radar satellite constellation of China.
• Gaofen-3 03 will be linked up with Gaofen-3 and Gaofen-3 02 satellites.
• Gaofen-3 03 will provide reliable, stable synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images.
• The SAR images will improve the monitoring capabilities of land-sea radar satellites of China.
• China Remote Sensing Satellite Ground Station has now become capable of processing data transmitted from the Landsat-9 satellite.
• China launched the Landsat-9 satellite last September. Landsat-9 started working in January.

Topic: National News

9. Cabinet approved distribution of fortified rice through targeted public distribution system.

• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has given the approval to distribute fortified rice through different schemes in all States and Union Territories by 2024.
• The fortified rice will be distributed through Targeted Public Distribution System, Integrated Child Development Services, Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman-PM POSHAN and Other Welfare Schemes.
• This initiative will be implemented in three phases. A Pilot Scheme on "Fortification of Rice and its Distribution under Public Distribution System" was implemented in 2019-20.
• Food Corporation of India and State Agencies had already procured 88 LMT fortified rice for supply and distribution.
• The Centre will bear the total cost of rice fortification, which will be around two thousand 700 million rupees each year.
• Fortified rice will provide nutrition to poor people, women, children, and lactating mothers. It will help in reducing malnutrition in the country.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made an announcement on the Fortification of Rice on the 75th Independence Day.
• Fortification is the addition of key vitamins and minerals such as iron, iodine, zinc, and Vitamin A & D to staple foods.

Topic: State News/ Delhi

10. Delhi government to include e-cycles under its Electric Vehicle (EV) policy.

• Delhi government has decided to incentivize e-cycles under its Electric Vehicle (EV) policy.
• Passenger and cargo e-cycles with a speed of less than 25 km/hour will be covered under the e-cycle policy.
• Buyers of e-cycles and cargo e-cycles will get a “Scrapping Incentive” of up to Rs 3,000 per vehicle.
• Delhi has become the first state to promote e-cycle under the EV policy. The Government will give an incentive of 25% of MRP to the first 10,000 buyers.
• An additional incentive of Rs 2,000 will be given to the first 1,000 individual e-cycle buyers.
• The government will give an incentive of 33% of MRP or Rs 15,000 per vehicle, whichever is less, to the first 5,000 e-cargo cycles buyers.
• Around 46,000 EVs have been sold till date under the EV policy of the Delhi Government.

Topic: Committees/ Commissions/Taskforces

11. Government formed AVGC promotion task force for Indian markets and global demand.

• India has the potential to become a leader in the Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics (AVGC) sector.
• India can become a leader in the AVGC sector and this sector can create more than one lakh Jobs annually.
• The government has formed a Task Force headed by the Secretary, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
• State Governments of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, heads of education bodies, and representatives of industry bodies will be members of this Task Force.
• This Task Force will frame a national AVGC policy and it will also create a national curriculum framework for Graduation, Post-Graduation, and Doctoral courses in AVGC.
• The first action plan will be submitted by Task Force within 90 days.

Topic: Corporates/Companies

12. Infosys & Rolls-Royce jointly launched ‘Aerospace Engineering and digital innovation centre’ in Bengaluru.

• This centre will provide R&D services integrated with advanced digital capabilities to Rolls-Royce’s engineering and group business services from India.
• Both companies will also explore opportunities for digital and engineering innovation and associated cost optimization strategies.
• Rolls Royce and Infosys had signed a strategic partnership for aerospace engineering in December 2020.
• Rolls-Royce is a British automobile company. It was founded in 1904.
• Infosys Limited is an Indian multinational information technology company. Salil Parekh is the current CEO.

Topic: Defence

13. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh released the third indigenization list to promote defence manufacturing in India.

• The third list comprises 101 items including Sensors, Weapons ammunitions, Rocket, Naval Utility Helicopters, Patrol vessels, Anti-ship Missile, and Anti-Radiation Missile.
• These 101 items will be procured from local sources according to the provisions of Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020.
• This third positive indigenization list has been prepared by the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO), Department of Defence Production (DDP), Service Headquarters (SHQs) and the private industry.
• Rajnath Singh handed over 30 agreements to the domestic defence industry for the transfer of 21 DRDO technologies.
• The first list (101) and second list (108) were released on August 21, 2020 and May 31, 2021, respectively.
• It will give an opportunity to the domestic industry for understanding the future needs of the Armed Forces.

Topic: Awards and Prizes

14. ‘Tomb of Sand’ becomes first Hindi novel to get shortlisted for International Booker Prize.

• ‘Tomb of Sand’ is written by Geetanjali Shree. It is translated into English by Daisy Rockwell.
• It will compete with five other books from around the world to win the International Booker Prize.
• The story of the novel revolves around an 80-year-old woman who goes into depression after the death of her husband.
• Uttar Pradesh-born Geetanjali is an author of three novels and has translated many works into English, French, German, Serbian, and Korean.
• Tomb of Raid will be her first book to be published in the UK.
• David Diop had won International Booker Prize 2021 for his book titled “At Night All Blood is Black”.
• International Booker Prize:
  • It was formerly known as the Man Booker International Prize.
  • The prize is awarded for a book translated into English.
  • Prize money is shared equally between author and translator.