DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS

By admin: Jan. 13, 2022

S. Somanath is the new Chairman of ISRO

Tags: Person in news

Senior rocket scientist S Somanath has been appointed as the tenth chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and secretary, department of space (DoS).

• He will replace K Sivan, who will complete his term on 14th January 2022.
• Since January 2018, Somanthan has been the Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC).
• For the next three years he will serve as Secretary of the Department of Space and the Chairman of ISRO.

About S. Somanath

S. Somanath is an expert in a host of disciplines including launch vehicle design and has specialised in launch vehicle systems engineering, structural design, structural dynamics, integration designs and procedures, mechanism designs and pyrotechnics.

• He led the LVM3-X/CARE mission which was the first successful experimental suborbital test flight of LVM3 on December 18, 2014.
• He also was the Director of Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) and was responsible for the system integration design, development and testing of the stages of PSLV during its development.

NATO- Russia talk fails

Tags: International News

The talks between the 30 member western military alliance North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and Russia held at Brussels, Belgium on 12 January 2022 ended in a deadlock.

•  The talks were held under the NATO-Russia Council Platform .The Secretary General of NATO, General Jens Stoltenberg said that it was impossible to meet the Russian demands regarding expansion of NATO and threat to Ukraine.
• The Russian delegation was led by deputy foreign minister, Aleksandr V. Grushko.

Russia had earlier submitted a list of demands to the United States which leads the NATO military alliance before the NATO -Russia Council platform meeting 

The Russian demands were:

• A formal halt to NATO’s eastern enlargement. It means that NATO shall not make Ukraine, Georgia and Finland its members.
• A permanent freeze on further expansion of the alliance’s military infrastructure (such as bases and weapons systems) in the former Soviet allies which are now a part of NATO(these countries are Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Montenegro) 
• End to Western military assistance to Ukraine and a ban on intermediate-range missiles deployment in Europe.

Gen. Stoltenberg said it would be impossible for the 30 NATO members to agree to Moscow’s core demands for a new security order in Europe, and in particular added that Russia would have no veto on Ukraine’s right to eventually join the alliance.

Russia has already deployed around 100,000 troops at the Ukraine border and Western intelligence agency has warned that Russia plans to invade Ukraine. Russia denies that it has such a plan.

Kindly also see 3 December 2021 post 

World Bank Maintains India's Growth Projection At 8.3% For 2021-22

Tags: Economics/Business

According to the World Bank’s “Global Economic Prospect” report  the Indian economy is expected to grow by 8.3% in the financial year 2021-22 and by 8.7% in the financial year 2022-23.

The report is released by the World Bank every Quarter.

Highlights of the report 

• India is expected to be a bright spot in the world economy as the global economy faces grim outlook as the aftershock of the pandemic continues to affect the global economy especially the poor ones .
• It expects the global economy to grow by 4.1% in 2022 as compared to 5.5% in 2021.
• Driving the global slowdown are China, where the rate of growth is expected to drop to 5.1% from 8% last year, and the US, which is forecast to expand by 3.7% this year compared with 5.6% in 2021. 

World Bank President David Malpas.

Tata Tele to issue Equity shares to the Government for its AGR dues

Tags: Economics/Business

Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) has opted to convert interest on AGR into equity, giving the government a share of 9.5% stake in the company .

• The company will issue the equity shares at Rs 41.50 per share.
• It is the second telecom company after Vodafone -Idea to issue shares in lieu of its AGR dues 
• Tata Teleservices provides telecom services to enterprises.

For detail on the issue see yesterday post and click the link below 

Telecom Sector and AGR woes

Index for Rural India shows upbeat business sentiments in rural areas

Tags: Economics/Business

A recently launched “Rural Business Confidence Index” developed by Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) with Credit rating agency CRIF High Mark  showed upbeat sentiment in the rural areas.

The Index shows that despite the pandemic, disbursement of retail loans in the rural areas has increased 23% by value to Rs 12.45 lakh crore in 2020-21 as compared to the previous year of Rs 10.10 Lakh crore.

RailTel Plans Edge Data Centers in Rural and Semi-Urban areas

Tags: Economics/Business

RailTel, owned by the Ministry of Railways, has decided to create several “edge data centres” in the rural and semi-urban areas to bridge the digital divide in the country and increase the pace of digital transformation.

Edge data centres are small data centers located at the edge of the network,where they are closer to the end users and devices.

This will enable faster performance and lower latency.

Pilgrims start arriving for Ganga Sagar Mela

Tags: State News

Thousands of pilgrims started arriving in West Bengal for the annual Ganga Sagar Mela even as the COVID­19 infections continue to remain a cause of concern in the State.

Directions by Calcutta High Court to control Covid Spread

• Only those who are having COVID negative in RTPCR report within 72 hours, will be permitted to enter the Sagar Island for Ganga Sagar Mela.
• The Court had also set up a committee to ensure that COVID­19 protocols are followed on the ground.

About Gangasagar Mela 

• Gangasagar is a place of Hindu pilgrimage. Every year on the day of Makar Sankranti (14 January), hundreds of thousands of Hindus gather to take a holy dip at the confluence of the river Ganges and Bay of Bengal and offer prayers (puja) in the Kapil Muni Temple. 
• The Gangasagar pilgrimage and fair is the second largest congregation of mankind after the triennial ritual bathing of Kumbha Mela.
• Gangasagar is a village in the Kakdwip subdivision of the South 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal.

Atal Innovation Mission declares results for Space Challenge 2021

Tags: Science and Technology

The Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Ayog on 12th January 2022 announced the results of the “ATL Space Challenge 2021” which was launched in collaboration with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on September 6th, 2021.

• Mission Director, AIM, Dr. Chintan Vaishnav unveils the winners through a virtual event. 
• The ATL Space Challenge witnessed over 2500 submissions from both ATL and Non-ATL students across the country from which 75 top innovators were selected and announced. ATL Space Challenge 2021 witnessed over 6500 students participating in the challenge from 32 States/ UTs. This Challenge also had a heartening participation of over 35% from girl students.

The ATL Space Challenge 2021 was launched with an objective to enable innovation among young school students to create something in space sector that will not only help them learn about the space but create something that the space programme can use itself. The Challenge is also aligned with the World Space Week 2021, which is observed from 4 to 10 October each year at the global level in order to celebrate the contributions of space science and technology.

JNU admission through CUET From 2022-23 Session

Tags: National News

The Academic Council of Jawaharlal Nehru University in its 159th meeting cleared a proposal to conduct the varsity’s entrance exam through the Common Universities Entrance Test(CUET) from the academic session 2022-23.

As per the council, CUET would provide a level playing field to numerous eligible students from across the country reducing the burden of taking several entrance examinations.

Criticisms against the move-

• As per, JNU Students’ Union, JNU offers programmes and courses that are unique to the university, and a ‘one size fits all’ approach of CUET will be detrimental in this regard.
• CUET will lead to JNU losing autonomy over the setting of question papers and declaration of results.
• CUET lacks transparency as it indicates pass/fail instead of displaying the student’s grade. 
• CUET with a centralized institutional set up, makes (any) redressal an elaborate procedure, further pushing aspirants belonging to the marginalized communities to deeper margins

CUET 

The Common Universities Entrance Test (CUET) is an all-India test, organized for admission to various Integrated/Under-Graduate, Post Graduate, and Research Programmes in several Central Universities and State Universities of India. From its inception in 2010 till 2020, the CUCET was conducted/coordinated by the Central University of Rajasthan. The National Testing Agency took over the conduct of these exams in 2021. All Question papers are in MCQ Format.

POWERGRID and Africa50 will jointly pioneer Africa’s first transmission PPP project in Kenya

Tags: International News

Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (POWERGRID) has signed a Joint Development Agreement with Africa50, the pan-African infrastructure investment platform to continue to develop the Kenya Transmission Project on a public-private partnership basis.

• The project entails the development, financing, construction, and operation of the 400kV Lessos – Loosuk and 220kV Kisumu – Musaga transmission lines under a public-private partnership (PPP) framework. 
• Once completed, the project will be the first Independent Power Transmission (IPT) in Kenya and will set a reference point in Africa as the first financing of transmission lines on a PPP basis. 
• In this development partnership, POWERGRID, will provide technical and operational know-how to the project, while Africa50 will bring its project development and finance expertise and will act as a bridge between the Kenyan government and private investors.

About Africa50:

• Africa50 is an infrastructure investment platform that contributes to Africa’s economic growth by developing and investing in bankable infrastructure projects, catalyzing public sector capital, and mobilizing private sector funding, with differentiated financial returns and impact.
• Africa50 currently has 31 shareholders, comprising 28 African countries, the African Development Bank, the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO), and Bank Al-Maghrib.

PM inaugurates 11 new medical colleges and a new campus of CICT in Tamil Nadu

Tags: National News

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated 11 new medical colleges and a new campus of Central Institute of Classical Tamil (CICT) in Tamil Nadu on 12 January 2022 through video conference. Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, and Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M.K.Stalin were present on the occasion.

• The new medical colleges are being established at an estimated cost of about Rs 4000 crore, out of which around Rs 2145 crore has been provided by the Union government and rest by the Tamil Nadu government. 
• The districts in which the new Medical Colleges are being established are Virudhunagar, Namakkal, The Nilgiris, Tiruppur, Thiruvallur, Nagapattinam, Dindigul, Kallakurichi, Ariyalur, Ramanathapuram and Krishnagiri. 
• The new medical colleges, with cumulative capacity of 1450 seats, are being established under the Centrally Sponsored scheme of ’Establishing of New Medical Colleges attached with existing district/referral hospital’. Under the scheme, medical colleges are established in districts, which do not have either a government or private medical college.
• The establishment of a new campus of Central Institute of Classical Tamil (CICT) in Chennai is in line with the Prime Minister’s vision to protect and preserve Indian heritage and promote classical languages. 
• The new campus is fully funded by the Union Government and is built at a cost of Rs 24 Crore. 
• An autonomous organization under the Union Ministry of Education, CICT is contributing to the promotion of classical Tamil by doing research activities so as to establish the ancientness and uniqueness of Tamil language. The institute library has a rich collection of over 45,000 ancient Tamil Texts.

Statistics from PM’s Speech-

• In 2014, the country had 387 medical colleges. Whereas in 2021, this number has gone up to 596. This is an increase of 54%. 
• In 2014, India had around 82 thousand medical Undergraduate and Postgraduate seats. Whereas in 2021, this number has gone up to around 1 lakh 48 thousand seats. This is an increase of about 80%.
• In 2014, there were only seven AIIMS in the country. Whereas till 2021, the number of AIIMS approved has increased to 22.

Resumption of Television Audience Measurement Ratings for ‘News Genre’ by BARC

Tags: National News

The ministry of information and broadcasting has asked the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) to resume the release of Television Rating Points (TRPs) for news channels and sought the release of the data of the last three months for a “fair and equitable representation of true trends”.

• The resumption comes after over a year of TRPs being suspended following allegations of manipulation of ratings that emerged in October 2020. The Mumbai Police arrested at least five people over an alleged TRP scam
• As the controversy grew at the time, the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), which provides TRP data, announced a three-month long suspension of weekly ratings of news channels across languages.
• The ministry, has also set up a working group under the chairmanship of the CEO, Prasar Bharati, Shashi Shekhar Vempati for the consideration of leveraging the Return Path Data (RPD) capabilities for the use of TRP services, as also recommended by TRAI and the TRP Committee Report.

BARC

BARC (Broadcast Audience Research Council) India is a joint industry body, which includes broadcasters, advertisers, and advertising and media agencies. 

• It was set up to design, commission, supervise and own an accurate, reliable and timely television audience measurement system for India. It is the world's largest television measurement science industry body based in Mumbai..
• It analyses the viewership habits of over 210 million TV households which makes it the world's largest television audience measurement service. Its measurement system is based on a sample of 40,000 "panel homes”
• It functions as per the recommendations of the TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India).
• Chairman - Punit Goenka
• CEO - Nakul Chopra

Tasnim Mir ranked No.1 U-19 Badminton player

Tags: Sports News

16 year old shuttler from Gujarat, Tasnim Mir became the first Indian to be top ranked in the under­19 girls singles in the latest Badminton World Federation  (BWF) junior rankings.

Badminton World Federation  (BWF)  

The Badminton World Federation (BWF) is the international governing body for the sport of badminton recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). 

• It was founded in 1934 as the International Badminton Federation (IBF) with nine member nations (Canada, Denmark, England, France, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Scotland and Wales). In 1981 the IBF merged with the World Badminton Federation, and in September 2006, the name of the organization was changed to Badminton World Federation (BWF)
• The BWF currently has 194 member nations around the world, organized into 5 continental confederations.
• Headquarters - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
• President - Poul-Erik Høyer Larsen 

Forest Survey report 2021 released by the Government

Tags: National News

Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Bhupender Yadav, today released the ‘India State of Forest Report 2021’ prepared by the Forest Survey of India (FSI).

• Forest Survey of India  releases “ Indian State of Report “ after every 2 years and the last report was released in 2019.
• FSI uses satellite data of the Indian Remote sensing satellite of ISRO, Resourcesat-2  to asses the forest cover in India .

Highlights of the report 

• The total forest and tree cover of the country is 80.9 million hectare which is 24.62 percent of the geographical area of the country. As compared to the assessment of 2019, there is an increase of 2,261 sq km in the total forest and tree cover of the country. Out of this, the increase in the forest cover has been observed as 1,540 sq km and that in tree cover is 721 sq km.
• Increase in forest cover has been observed in open forest followed by very dense forest. Top three states showing increase in forest cover are Andhra Pradesh (647 sq km) followed by Telangana (632 sq km) and Odisha (537 sq km).
• Area-wise Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest cover in the country followed by Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Maharashtra.
• In terms of forest cover as percentage of total geographical area, the top five States are Mizoram (84.53%), Arunachal Pradesh (79.33%), Meghalaya (76.00%), Manipur (74.34%) and Nagaland (73.90%).
• 17 states/UT’s have above 33 percent of the geographical area under forest cover. Out of these states and UT’s, five states/UTs namely Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya have more than 75 percent forest cover while 12 states/UTs namely Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura, Goa, Kerala, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, Assam, Odisha, have forest cover between 33 percent to 75 percent.
• Total mangrove cover in the country is 4,992 sq km. An increase of 17 sq Km in mangrove cover has been observed as compared to the previous assessment of 2019. Top three states showing mangrove cover increase are Odisha (8 sq km) followed by Maharashtra (4 sq km) and Karnataka (3 sq km).
• Total carbon stock in the country's forest is estimated to be 7,204 million tonnes and there is an increase of 79.4 million tonnes in the carbon stock of the country as compared to the last assessment of 2019. The annual increase in the carbon stock is 39.7 million tonnes.