Current Affairs of the date: 30 Aug 2022

1. NASA postpones launch of Artemis 1 mission to Moon due to malfunctioning core stage engine

Tags: Science and Technology International News

NASA has postponed the launch of the Artemis 1 mission to the Moon on August 29 due to a faulty core stage engine.

IMPORTANT FACTS -

• The launch was postponed due to fuel leakage and engine problems.
• After many years of hard work, the US space agency was going to send its mission to the Moon.
• The mission is important because in view of its success, humans have to be sent to the moon in the future.
• Once launched, Artemis 1 will test the Orion spacecraft, which will orbit the Moon and one day take human crew members there.
• The cost of Artemis 1 is estimated at $4 billion. 

What is Artemis 1?

• It is named after the mythical twin sister of Apollo, Artemis.
• This spacecraft is the world's most powerful rocket, capable of carrying more payloads into deep space than any other vehicle.
• The first flight of the new Space Launch System (SLS), Artemis 1 is a heavy-lift vehicle.
• Artemis 1 is an uncrewed mission.
• It will have three test dummies – Helga, Zohar and Moonikin Campos – equipped with sensors to measure vibrations, cosmic radiation and other conditions.
• During the six-week long mission, Artemis 1 and the capsule will cover a distance of about 65,000 km to the Moon.

Why was the launch postponed?

• The launch was postponed due to a fault in the RS-25 engine, which had to be mixed with liquid hydrogen and oxygen to condition it before launch.
• One of its engines was not bleeding as expected.
• The launch was postponed because the launch team was unable to resolve these issues.
• A crack was also visible on the side of the inner tank.

About Artemis 1 mission :

• For the first time in 50 years since the end of the Apollo program, the launch of Artemis 1 is an ambitious US mission to return astronauts to the surface of the Moon.
• The Artemis 1 launch will also be the first flight of NASA's 21st century moon-exploration program.
• With Artemis 1 on the surface of the Moon, NASA aims to demonstrate new technologies, business approaches and capabilities that are essential for future explorations, including Mars.
• The launch aims to further aid in the study of the Moon, its origin and history.

ISRO’s Moon Exploration Mission :

• Chandrayaan 1 
• Chandrayaan-2 
• The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) recently announced India's third lunar mission Chandrayaan-3, which will consist of a lander and a rover.

2. Gautam Adani is now the world’s 3rd richest

Tags: Person in news

According to the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Gautam Adani has become the third richest person in the world with a net worth of $137 billion.

IMPORTANT FACTS -

• Gautam Adani has become the third richest person in the world, surpassing LVMH co-founder magnate Bernard Arnault.

• The top two spots on the list are occupied by Tesla chief Elon Musk ($251 billion) and Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos ($153 billion).

• According to Bloomberg, this is the first time an Asian has made it to the list of the top three richest people in the world.

• In this list, Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, is at 11th place with a net worth of $ 91.9 billion.

Top 10 list :

• 1st place - Elon Musk (Tesla)

• 2nd place - Jeff Bezos (Amazon)

• 3rd place - Gautam Adani (Adani Group)

• 4th place - Magnet Bernard Arnault( LVMH luxury fashion brand)

• 5th place - Bill Gates (Microsoft)

• 6th place - Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway)

• 7th place - Larry Page (Google Inc.)

• 8th place - Sergey Brin (Google Inc.)

• 9th place - Steve Ballmer (Microsoft Corporation)

• 10th place - Larry Ellison (Oracle Corporation)

Gautam Adani (Adani Group) :

• Gautam Adani is the co-founder of the Adani Group, the country's largest port operator.

• Adani Group is also called the largest coal trader of the country.

• Gautam Adani is also the richest person in Asia according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

• Recently, Adani has been included in the list of 100 Most Influential People in Titans category along with personalities like Apple CEO Tim Cook and American host Oprah Winfrey.

• Recently, the Adani Group was in the news for buying a 29 percent stake in NDTV.

3. Nirmala Sitharaman announces 'Millet Challenge' for startups

Tags: Economy/Finance National News

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on August 27 announced 'Millet Challenge' for startups engaged in coarse cereals.

IMPORTANT FACTS -

• Nirmala Sitharaman also announced Rs 25 crore funding for the University of Agricultural Sciences at Raichur, Karnataka under NABARD (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development).

• This amount will be used for value addition and capacity building to promote coarse cereals and for setting up of incubation centers for coarse cereals value chain and processing.

• She attended the Millet conclave 2022 which was held at the agricultural university, Raichur, Karnataka. 

What is the 'Millet Challenge' for startups ?

• NITI Aayog will soon announce this challenge for startups related to coarse cereals.

• In this, any startup providing solutions in innovative ways will be able to participate.

• The names of the winners will be announced before December.

• A basic grant of Rs 1 crore each will be given to three winners, Rs 20 lakh each to 15 selected candidates and Rs 10 lakh each to other 15 selected candidates.

• The Union Finance Minister asked the major millet processing companies to focus on Karnataka to make the state a brand in this sector.

About Millets :

• Millets are high nutrient cereal crops and are classified as small seeded grasses.

• They include jowar (sorghum), ragi (finger millet), korra (foxtail millet), arke (kodo millet), sama (little millet), bajra (pearl millet), chena/barr (proso millet) and sanwa (barnyard millet).

• India is one of the major producers of millets in the world with an estimated share of about 41% in the global production.

• Major producers of millets are Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Haryana.

• Millet has been notified as a nutritional cereal by the government in April 2018.

• They are a rich source of protein, fiber, minerals, iron, and calcium and have a low glycemic index.

• The production of millets in India has increased by 16 % to 17.26 million tonnes (MT) in the 2019-20 crop year (July-June) from 14.5 MT in 2015-16.

• In March 2021, India led a UN General Assembly resolution to declare 2023 as the International Year of Millets.

• India's proposal was supported by 72 countries.

• India is the 5th largest exporter of Millets globally.

4. National Small Industries Day

Tags: Important Days

National Small Industries Day is celebrated every year across the country on 30th August to support and promote small industries for their overall growth potential and the opportunities they get for their development in the year.

IMPORTANT FACTS -

• It is an annual festival dedicated to encouraging small businesses across the country.

• The day is celebrated with an aim to encourage small businesses and provide job opportunities to the unemployed.

Background :

• National Small Industry Day finds mention in its celebration since 2000 when the then government decided to give an expanded policy package to Small Scale Industries (SSI).

• On August 30, 2000 the Ministry of Small Scale Industries announced that every year this day will be celebrated as National Small Industry Day.

• World MSME Day is celebrated every year on 27 June by the United Nations.

• The theme of World MSME Day for the year 2022 is 'Resilience and Rebuilding: MSMEs for Sustainable Development'.

Initiatives related to MSME Sector :

• The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act was notified in the year 2006 to address policy issues affecting MSMEs as well as the coverage and investment limits of the sector.

• Prime Minister's Employment Generation Program (PMEGP) :- It is a credit linked subsidy scheme for setting up new micro enterprises and generating employment opportunities in rural and urban areas of the country. Commencement - 15 August 2008

• Scheme of Fund for the Upliftment of Traditional Industries (SFURTI) :- Its objective is to organise artisans and traditional industries into clusters and thus provide financial assistance to make them competitive in the current market scenario.

• Credit Guarantee Scheme for Micro and Small Enterprises :- Under this scheme launched to facilitate easy flow of credit, guarantee cover is provided for collateral free loans given to MSMEs.

• Credit Linked Capital Subsidy and Technology Upgradation Scheme (CLCS-TUS) :- It aims at facilitating technology up-gradation to Micro and Small Enterprises (MSMEs) by providing 15% capital subsidy for purchase of plant and machinery.

• CHAMPIONS Portal :- It aims to help Indian MSMEs to establish themselves as national and global champions by resolving their grievances and providing them encouragement, support.

5. Indian Naval Ship Sumedha visited Port Klang in Malaysia

Tags: Defence

As part of the Indian Navy's long-range operational deployment, Indian Naval Ship, INS Sumedha on 27 August visited Port Klang of Malaysia.

IMPORTANT FACTS -

• The ship is on its return route from Perth, Australia, where it participated in the Aazadi ka Amrit Mahotsaw.

• It aims to strengthen bilateral ties, enhance maritime cooperation and inter-operability between the Indian and Royal Malaysian Navies.

• Both the navies are cooperating on various fronts and playing a vital role in ensuring maritime defence and security.

• INS Sumedha is also scheduled to participate in a maritime partnership exercise with ships of the Royal Malaysian Navy.

• Port Klang is the largest port of Malaysia.

About INS Sumedha :

• It is an indigenously built Naval Offshore Patrol Vessel.

• It has been deployed for multiple roles apart from independent and fleet operations.

• It is part of the Eastern Fleet of the Indian Navy based at Visakhapatnam. 

• It functions under the operational command of the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command.

• This is the third ship of the Indigenous Naval Offshore Patrol Vessel (NOPV) project to be inducted into the Indian Navy.

• The ship is designed and built by Goa Shipyard Limited.

• The main role of the ship is EEZ surveillance, anti-piracy patrol, providing maritime security to offshore assets and escort operations for high value assets.

About Malaysia :

• Prime Minister - Ismail Sabri Yaakob

• Capital - Kuala Lumpur

• Currency - Malaysian ringgit

• Official Language - Malay

• Official Religion - Islam

6. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Kutch Branch Canal at Narmada, Gujrat

Tags: National National News

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 28 August inaugurated the 357.18-kilometer-long Kutch Branch Canal (KBC).

IMPORTANT FACTS -

• KBC stretched from the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Dam in Narmada district 750 kilometres away, to the last of the villages of Gujarat’s Mandvi taluka, Mod Kuba.

• The dam will help in providing irrigation facilities to Kutch and drinking water to all 948 villages and 10 towns of Kutch district.

• The total length of the canal is about 357 km.

• A part of the canal was inaugurated by the Prime Minister in 2017 and the remaining part has been inaugurated now.

• Built at a cost of Rs 6493 crore, the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Limited (SSNNL) officials have claimed this dam as "the longest branch dam in the world".

About Sardar Sarovar Dam :

• The foundation stone of the project was laid by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on 5 April, 1961.

• It is a concrete gravity dam built on the Narmada river in Navagam near the town of Kevadiya, Narmada District, in the state of Gujarat.

• It was built to provide water and electricity to the four Indian states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.

• It is located in Gujarat's Narmada district, on the border of Gujarat and Maharashtra.

• It irrigates drought prone areas in Gujarat and arid regions of Barmer and Jalore districts of Rajasthan.

• The dam also provides flood protection to 210 villages and Bharuch city.

Narmada River :

• Narmada river is the largest west flowing river of the peninsular region.

• It flows through a rift valley between the Vindhya Range on the north and the Satpura Range on the south.

• It originates from the Maikalla range near Amarkantak in Madhya Pradesh.

• Major Tributaries of Narmada- Hiran, Orsang, the Barna and the Kolar.

7. Bengaluru ranks second after Beijing in the list of top technology hubs in the Asia-Pacific region

Tags: Economy/Finance Popular

Bengaluru ranks second after Beijing in the list of top technology hubs in the Asia-Pacific region, according to a report by property consultants Cushman & Wakefield.

IMPORTANT FACTS -

• Cushman & Wakefield's latest report titled 'Tech Cities: The Global Intersection of Talent and Real Estate' identifies technology markets based on 14 criteria related to real estate and business environment.

• According to the report, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Delhi are the top technology hubs after Beijing in the Asia-Pacific region.

• Bengaluru was the leader in India with 2,30,813 technology job creation during the last financial year. It was followed by Chennai (1,12,781 jobs), Hyderabad (1,03,032 jobs) and Delhi (89,996 jobs).

• Globally, 46 top tech markets were identified from over 115 tech cities in total, and six of the 14 cities in the Asia Pacific region were in India.

• Bengaluru is one of the largest contributors to office space leasing with an average share of 25-30% in annual pan-India leasing activity between 2017 -2021.

• The technology sector accounts for an average of 38-40% of the annual leasing activity in the Bengaluru office market, which is higher than the national average of 35%.

8. Most suicides reported from Maharashtra

Tags: National National News

According to the latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Maharashtra has the highest number of suicides. Tamil Nadu comes in second place and Madhya Pradesh comes in third place.

IMPORTANT FACTS -

• According to the report, 1,64,033 people committed suicide across the country in 2021 as against 1,53,052 in the year 2020.

• According to this report, there has been an increase of 7.2 percent in the cases of suicide in the year 2021 as compared to 2020. At the same time, the suicide rate has increased by 6.2 percent.

• Maharashtra has reported the highest number of suicides at 22,207 in the year 2021. This is followed by Tamil Nadu with 18,925 suicides, Madhya Pradesh 14,965, West Bengal 13,500 and Karnataka 13,056.

• The NCRB has said in its report that these five states alone account for 50.4 per cent of the total number of suicides across the country. The remaining 49.6 percent cases have been reported in other 23 states and eight union territories.

In Union Territories :

• In the year 2021, Delhi has reported the highest number of suicide cases among union territories.

• Delhi recorded 2840 suicide cases, followed by Puducherry with 504 cases.

• The all-India rate of suicide in 2021 was 12 percent.

Road accident deaths in 2021 :

• There were about 4.22 lakh traffic related accidents in the country in 2021. In which 1.73 lakh people lost their lives.

• Uttar Pradesh had the highest death toll of 24,711 followed by Tamil Nadu at 16,685 and Maharashtra at 16,446.

About National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) :

• NCRB was established in 1986 under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.

• It was established on the basis of the recommendations of the National Police Commission (1977–1981) and the Task Force of the Ministry of Home Affairs (1985).

• The NCRB collects annual comprehensive statistics of crime across the country ('Crime in India' report).

• The main objective of NCRB is to modernise India's police and empower it in information technology.

Major Publications :

• Crime in india report

• Accidental death and suicide

• Prison statistics

• Reports of missing women and children in India

9. Uttarakhand CM launched Mukhyamantri Udyman Khiladi Unnayan Yojana

Tags: Sports Government Schemes State News

On the occasion of National Sports Day, Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Pushkar Singh Dhami has launched Mukhyamantri Udyman Khiladi Unnayan Yojana in the state.

IMPORTANT FACTS -

• Under the scheme sports scholarships of Rs 1500 will be provided every month to the players between the age group of 8 to 14 years.

• A total of 3900 budding sports persons will benefit from Mukhyamantri Udyman Khiladi Unnayan Yojana, in which 1950 boys and 1950 girls will be included.

Other announcements made by the Chief Minister on this occasion :

• The Chief Minister said that a sports development fund would be set up in the state. Under this, eight sports coaches will be appointed in each district.

• The Malkhamb game will be included in sports policy.

• Along with this, the contract trainers in the Sports Department will be given the same honorarium as the contract trainers of the Sports Authority of India.

• He also announced efforts to re-implement four percent reservation for skilled sportspersons in state services.

About Uttarakhand State :

• Formation - 09 November 2000

• Capital - Dehradun

• Number of Divisions - 02 (Garhwal and Kumaon)

• State bordering the state - 2 (Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh)

• Countries bordering the state - 2 (Nepal, Tibet (China))

• State flower - Brahma Kamal (local name - Kaulpadya) (Scientific name - Sosuria ablevets)

• State Tree - Buransh (Rhododendron)

• State animal - musk deer (Muscus chrysogaster)

• State Bird - Monal (Lopoporus impejanus)

• state sport - football

• Number of Vidhan Sabha Members - 70

• Number of Members in Lok Sabha - 5

• Seats for Rajya Sabha - 3

• Chief Minister - Pushkar Singh Dhami

• Governor - Gurmeet Singh

10. PM Modi Inaugurates ‘Smriti Van’ Earthquake Memorial in Kutch, Gujarat

Tags: State News

Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated India's first earthquake memorial Smriti Van to the nation in Bhuj, Gujarat on 28 August 2022.

IMPORTANT FACTS -

• Smriti Van is a unique memorial in which the names of more than 12,000 people who lost their lives in the devastating earthquake in January 2001 have been inscribed.

• This monument is built on top of Bhujiyo hill which is spread over 470 acres of land.

• It is the first such memorial in the country. 

• An earthquake simulator has been installed in the monument which will provide the real experience of the earthquake to the visitors.

• A state-of-the-art Smriti Van Earthquake Museum has also been built in this.

Features of the memorial :

• The museum displays Gujarat's topography, reconstruction initiatives and success stories after the 2001 earthquake, and provides information on future preparedness for a variety of disasters.

• It has a block to recreate the feel of an earthquake with the help of a 5D simulator and also a block to pay tribute to the lost souls.

• The eight-block and 11,500-square-metre museum will showcase the Harappan civilization of the region.

• The museum also has 50 audio-visual models, a hologram, interactive projection and virtual reality facilities for visitors.