Daily Current Affairs April 09 2022

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS: IMPORTANT DAYS

International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda:

• The International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Rwandan Genocide was recognized as an international observance by the United Nations on April 7, 2004.
• International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda is commemorated by UNESCO
• 2022 marks the 28th anniversary of the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, one of the darkest chapters in human history.
• On April 7th, the date where the genocide against members of the Tutsi began.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL NEWS

Advisory committee formed for semiconductor mission:

• The ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) has formed an advisory committee for the country’s semiconductor mission.
• The 17-member committee of experts, comprises senior government officials, academicians as well as industry and domain experts.
• The advisory committee will be chaired by minister of electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw, with MoS, ministry of electronics and IT (MeitY), Rajeev Chandrasekhar as the vice-chairperson.
• Secretary, MeitY shall be the convenor of the advisory committee.
• The Union Cabinet, in December, had approved a comprehensive Semicon India programme with a total outlay of Rs 76,000 crore for the development of semiconductor and display manufacturing ecosystem in the country.
• The programme aims to provide financial support to companies investing in semiconductors, display manufacturing and design ecosystem.
• This will serve to pave the way for India’s growing presence in the global electronics value chains.
• A specialised and dedicated ‘India Semiconductor Mission (ISM)’ has been set up within Digital India Corporation to drive India’s strategies for developing semiconductors and display ecosystem.

Ministry of Ayush’s Yoga Mahotsav begins at the Red Fort in Delhi:

• The Ministry of Ayush is all set to celebrate the World Health Day with a grand program, including a demonstration of the Common Yoga Protocol, scheduled to be organised in the backdrop of the Red Fort in New Delhi
• The Ministry of Ayush with its various stakeholders has chalked out a 100 days’ countdown programme wherein 100 organisations are promoting yoga in 100 places/cities.
• On 7th April 2022, which is also the World Health Day, and 75th day of the countdown to International Day of Yoga (IDY), a grand program is scheduled for demonstration of Common Yoga Protocol
• Because the 8th International Day of Yoga falls within the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav year, the Ministry advises commemorating IDY at 75 iconic locations around the country.
• This countdown effort is already underway, and IDY-2022 observation is gathering traction.

One Health pilot project launched by Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying:

• The Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying (DAHD), in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) has launched a pilot project in Uttarakhand to implement the One Health Framework by the One Health Support Unit.
• The Unit’s main goal is to create a national One Health roadmap based on the lessons learned during the pilot project’s deployment.
• The implementation of the One Health Support Unit would be led by an inter-ministerial One Health committee chaired by the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India.
• A Project Steering Committee (PSC) has also been constituted.
• Based on this committee’s recommendations, the district and state level one health committees need to be constituted.
• The Pilot project was launched by the Secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Atul Chaturvedi.

Arya.ag Joins United Nations International Compact Community India:

• ag, India’s largest and fastest-growing built-in grain commerce platform, has joined the United Nations International Compact India thereby voluntarily conforming to common sustainability ideas and taking steps to assist UN SDGs.
• ag is among the many pioneers to proactively embrace this globally coveted framework.
• The United Nations International Compact is a developed framework of Company Governance pushed sustainability that requires members to conduct enterprise conforming to 10 ideas encompassing components corresponding to human rights, labour, setting, and anti-corruption.
• Moreover, members are required to take motion to attain SDGs 2030.

AAI launches AVSAR  Scheme to provide platform to SHGs for promotion of local artisans and products:

• Under “AVSAR” (Airport as Venue for Skilled Artisans of The Region), which is an initiative of AAI, an opportunity to help the indigent to mobilize their households into functionally effective self-earned groups for self-reliance and self-dependence, has been provided.
• Under this scheme, an area of 100-200 square feet has been earmarked at each AAI operated airport.
• The space is being allotted to the self- help groups, turn on turn basis, for a duration of 15 days.
• Few outlets have already been commissioned at Chennai, Agartala, Dehradun, Kushinagar, Udaipur & Amritsar Airport wherein SHGs operated by local women, are showcasing and marketing their homemade local products like Puffed Rice, Packaged Papad, Pickles, Bamboo based Ladies Bag/Bottle/Lamp Sets, local artefacts, traditional craft, natural dyes, embroidery and indigenous weaves with contemporary design to the air travellers.
• More AAI Airports are in the process of allotting space in coordination with State Governments to such Self-Help Groups which includes Ranchi, Kolkata, Varanasi, Indore, Bhopal, Vadodara, Ranchi, Belagavi, Madurai, Coimbatore, Calicut, Surat, Bhubaneswar, Raipur, Silchar, Dibrugarh and Jorhat.

Ministry of I&B Constitutes Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics (AVGC) Promotion Task Force, headed by Secretary, MoI&B:

• The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) has constituted an Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics (AVGC) Promotion Task Force.
• Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced to set up of the force in February during the budget speech, to suggest ways to markets and global demand.
• The secretary of I&B will head the task force, which will submit its first action plan within 90 days.
• The creation of an AVGC Promotion Task Force with the participation of Government of India, State Governments and key industry players will provide focused thrust for the growth of the sector by driving the institutional efforts to guide the policies of growth for this sector, establish standards for AVGC education in India, actively collaborate with industry and international AVGC institutes, and enhance the global positioning of the Indian AVGC industry
• The Task Force also includes state governments of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana; heads of education bodies such as the All-India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), and representatives of industry bodies – Media and Entertainment Skill Council (MESC), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) including industry stakeholders.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Nepal gets approval to export additional 325MW of electricity to India

• Nepal has received permission to export an additional 325 MW of electricity to the energy market in India, taking the total electricity export to 364 MW.
• The Central Electricity Authority of India allowed the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) to sell electricity from the Kali Gandaki Hydropower Project (144MW), Middle Marsyangdi Hydropower Project (70MW) Marsyangdi Hydropower Project—all developed by the NEA, and Likhu 4 Hydropower Project (52.4MW) developed by the private sector.
• Nepal is currently importing on an average 300 MW of electricity from India to meet the domestic demand as power generation decreases during the winter season.
• The surplus electricity will be exported to India via 400 KV cross border transmission lines situated in Dhalkebar.

About Nepal :

• Capital: Kathmandu
• Currency: Nepalese rupee
• Prime minister: Sher Bahadur Deuba
• President: Bidhya Devi Bhandari

CURRENT AFFAIRS : STATE NEWS

Tribal festival Sarhul to be celebrated in Jharkhand

• The most popular tribal celebration across the Jharkhand region, Sarhul Festival, denotes the beginning of the new year.
• It is celebrated by the tribal communities of the local Sarna religion, most notably by the Munda, Ho, and Oraon tribes.
• In 2022 the festival will fall on April 4 & it is celebrated till the month of June or “Jeth”.

About Sarhul Festival :

• The festival is celebrated at the beginning of spring every year in the first month of the Hindu calendar, on the third day of the moon or the fortnight of ‘Chaitra’.
• The festival signifies the advent of the spring season or “Phaagun”
• It is a three-day festival relating to the worship of sal trees.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : BANKING & FINANCE

ICICI Securities partners with Coverstack to offer insurance

• Financial products distributor ICICIdirect entered a partnership with digital B2B platform for insurance services CoverStack under which the entire customer journey on com for insurance products will be powered by CoverStack.

About the Partnership :

• Using this more than 7 million customers can now search, customize, compare, and sbuy the most suitable insurance plans for Health and Motor insurance, by comparing quotes and features from multiple insurance firms easily.
• CoverStack, which also operates Coverfox Insurance, follows a plug and play model, providing technological solutions and insurance infrastructure to Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance players.
• ICICIdirect is a registered corporate agent, offering insurance products from several life, general, and health insurance companies.
• Through this partnership provide appropriate insurance products to these customers based on their life-stage and needs & further enhance the experience of buying insurance products.

About ICICI Securities :

• Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
• MD & CEO : Vijay Chandok

World Bank & AIIB to give Rs 7,500 cr loan for Mission School of Excellence project in Gujarat

• The World Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) will provide a loan of Rs 7,500 crore for the Gujarat government’s Mission School of Excellence project.

Aim :

• To improve the quality of education in Gujarat.

About the Mission School of Excellence project :

• Under the project, the state government will spend Rs 10,000 crore in the next five years and cover all 35,133 government and 5,847 grant-in-aid schools in Gujarat.
• The funds will be spent on building 50,000 new classrooms, creating5 lakh smart classrooms, 20,000 new computer labs and 5,000 tinkering labs in 41,000-odd government and grant-in-aid schools across the state.
• It is estimated that nearly 1 crore school students will benefit directly from this ambitious project in the next 5 years.

About World Bank :

• Founded: July 1944
• Headquarters: Washington, D.C., United States
• President: David Malpass

About AIIB :

• Formation: 16 January 2016
• Headquarters : Beijing, China
• President : Jin Liqun
• Membership : 105 Members

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BUSINESS NEWS

Govt released data: India’s trade deficit rises 88% in FY22:

• India’s trade deficit rose 87.5 per cent to USD 192.41 billion in 2021-22 as against USD 102.63 billion in the previous year.
• While total exports during last fiscal year increased to a record high of USD 417.81 billion, imports too soared to USD 610.22 billion, leaving a trade gap of USD 192.41 billion.
• India’s merchandise import in April 2021-March 2022 was USD 610.22 billion, an increase of 54.71 per cent over USD 394.44 billion in April 2020-March 2021 and an increase of 28.55 per cent over USD 474.71 billion in April 2019-March 2020.
• The trade deficit in March 2022 was USD 18.69 billion, while it was USD 192.41 billion during entire 2021-22.
• For the first time, India’s monthly merchandise exports exceeded USD 40 billion, reaching USD 40.38 billion in March 2022, an increase of 14.53 per cent over USD 35.26 billion in the year-ago month.

CURRENT AFFAIRS : MOU & AGREEMENTS

Tata Steel Foundation signs MOU with Jharkhand govt to set up ITI at Chandil

• Tata Steel Foundation (TSF) signed an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the Government of Jharkhand to set-up Industrial Training Institute (ITI) at Chandil in the Seraikela-Kharsawan district of Jharkhand.

Aim :

• To shape more young talents from the state of Jharkhand and make them industry ready.

Signatories :

• Sourav Roy, Chief, Corporate Social Responsibility, Tata Steel and Satyanand Bhokta, Minister, Department of Labour, Employment, Training and Skill Development, Government of Jharkhand.
• The ITI to be set-up at Chandil will offer training in technical and vocational courses with an initial intake capacity of 100 students and will begin functioning from the 2023 academic session.
• It will offer various technical courses like Electrical, Fitter, Turner and Welders with a duration of two years.
• To make this a platform where local youths can avail employment opportunities and fulfil a dream to contribute significantly to the income of their families.
• This is also the next step in the significant roadmap for skill development that the Foundation has envisaged for the state of Jharkhand.

About Tata Steel Foundation :

• Founded: 16 August 2016
• Directors : Narendran Viswanath Thachat, Chanakya Chaudhary, Koushik Chatterjee
• Chairman : Ratan Tata
• CEO & MD : T V Narendran

About Jharkhand :

• Capital: Ranchi
• Governor : Ramesh Bais
• Chief minister: Hemant Soren

CURRENT AFFAIRS : DEFENCE NEWS

9th Edition of India-Kyrgyzstan Joint Special Forces Exercise culminated at Bakloh

• The 9th Edition of the India – Kyrgyzstan Joint Special Forces Exercise which commenced on 25 Mar 2022 at Special Forces Training School, Bakloh (HP) culminated on 06 April 2022 at Bakloh in Himachal Pradesh.
• The exercise further strengthened the mutual confidence & interoperability between India and Kyrgyzstan.
• Over the past two weeks, both forces shared their expertise and best practices of tactics, techniques and procedures to counter existing and emergent threats across the entire spectrum of conflict.
• Combat shooting, sniping, survival in mountains, hostage rescue drills and unarmed combat were practised extensively during the exercise

About Kyrgyzstan :

• Capital: Bishkek
• President: Sadyr Japarov
• Currency: Kyrgyzstani som

CURRENT AFFAIRS : SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Astronomers discovered a near-identical twin of Jupiter

• A team of scientists has discovered a near-identical twin of Jupiter circling a star 17,000 light-years away from the Earth using data obtained in 2016 by NASA’s Kepler space telescope.
• In terms of mass, the exoplanet, dubbed K2-2016-BLG-0005Lb, is nearly the same as Jupiter.
• The study has been published as a preprint on org and submitted to the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
• The astrophysicists used Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity and a technique known as gravitational microlensing to discover the system.
• The exoplanet has almost a similar mass and distance from its star as Jupiter is from the Sun.
• K2-2016-BLG-0005Lb is 420 million miles away from its star, while Jupiter is 462 million miles away.
• While It has a mass of 1.1 times that of Jupiter, the star that it orbits has a mass of about 60 percent of the Sun.

Note :

• K2-2016-BLG-0005Lb is the first planet to be discovered from space in this way.

Amazon partners with 3 firms to launch its satellite internet constellation

• Amazon has signed agreements with three companies – Arianespace, Blue Origin, and United Launch Alliance (ULA), to deploy the majority of its Project Kuiper satellites.

Aim:

• To provide high-speed, low-latency broadband to a wide range of customers across the globe.
• Amazon has secured a total of up to 83 launches over a five-year period, and is the largest commercial procurement of launch vehicles in history.
• The contracts include 18 launches with Arianespace’s Ariane 6 rockets, 12 launches using Jeff Bezos-owned Blue Origin’s New Glenn, with options for up to 15 additional launches, and 38 launches on Vulcan Centaur, ULA’s newest heavy-lift launch vehicle.
• Project Kuiper plans to launch two prototype missions later this year on ABL Space Systems’ RS1 rocket.
• The new agreements with ULA are in addition to an already signed deal for nine launches on Atlas V vehicles as well as two RS1 launches from ABL Space Systems to deploy the prototype KuiperSat-1 and KuiperSat-2 satellites.
• Both will include much of the technology and sub-systems that power the production version of the company’s satellite design, and are an important step in the development process.

Additional Info :

• Amazon’s Project Kuiper was approved by the S. Federal Communications Commission in July 2020, with a constellation of 3,236 satellites in the low Earth orbit (LEO) & the company had revealed its low-cost customer terminal for Project Kuiper, capable of delivering speeds up to 400 Mbps.

About Amazon :

• Founded : July 5, 1994
• Headquarters : Seattle, Washington, U.S.
• Executive Chairman : Jeff Bezos
• President & CEO : Andy Jassy

CURRENT AFFAIRS : RANKING & INDEX

QS World University Rankings by Subject 2022: 5 IIT Delhi Programmes Feature In Top 100

• The ‘QS World University Rankings by Subject 2022’ was released by global higher education think-tank QS Quacquarelli Symonds.
• As per the global ranking, for the 10th consecutive year, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has been awarded as the best university with a score of 96.5.

About QS World University Rankings 2022:

• A total of 51 specific subjects were ranked in 2022 by the QS under five broad subject areas in 1,543 institutions from across the globe.
• The QS World University Rankings by Subject are compiled annually to help prospective students identify the leading universities in a particular subject.
• Rankings are based on research quality and accomplishments, academic reputation, and graduate employment.

5 broad subject areas :

• Arts and humanities,
• Engineering and technology,
• Life sciences and medicine,
• Natural sciences,
• Social sciences and management.

Top Universities in Arts & Humanities :

• University of Oxford
• University of Cambridge
• Harvard University

Top Universities in Engineering and Technology :

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
• University of Cambridge
• University of Oxford

Top Universities in Life Sciences & Medicine

• Harvard University
• University of Oxford
• Johns Hopkins University

Top Universities in Natural Sciences

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
• Harvard University
• University of Cambridge

Top Universities in Social Sciences & Management

• Harvard University
• University of Oxford
• The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

Top 10 universities in QS World University Rankings 2022:

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT QS Ranking is number 1
• University of Oxford of United Kingdom
• Stanford University of United States
• University of Cambridge of United Kingdom
• Harvard University of United States
• California Institute of Technology (Caltech) of United States
• Imperial College London of United Kingdom
• ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) of Switzerland
• UCL (University College London) of United Kingdom
• University of Chicago of United States

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BOOKS AND AUTHOR

A New Book Titled “Tiger of Drass: Capt. Anuj Nayyar, 23, Kargil Hero”:

• HarperCollins India has announced the release the new book titled “Tiger of Drass, Capt. Anuj Nayyar, 23, Kargil Hero” by Meena Nayyar and Himmat Singh Shekhawat
• The book features the story of Anuj Nayyar (23 years old), who martyred during the 1999 Kargil War while fighting to secure the Drass sector which was critical to the success of Operation Vijay and India’s victory in Kargil.
• Captain Anuj Nayyar was honoured with the Maha Vir Chakra (posthumously), the second-highest gallantry award in 2000.

Daily CA on April 09 :

• The International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Rwandan Genocide was recognized as an international observance by the United Nations on April 7, 2004.
• The ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) has formed an advisory committee for the country’s semiconductor mission.
• The Ministry of Ayush is all set to celebrate the World Health Day with a grand program, including a demonstration of the Common Yoga Protocol, scheduled to be organised in the backdrop of the Red Fort in New Delhi
• The Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying (DAHD), in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) has launched a pilot project in Uttarakhand to implement the One Health Framework by the One Health Support Unit.
• ag, India’s largest and fastest-growing built-in grain commerce platform, has joined the United Nations International Compact India thereby voluntarily conforming to common sustainability ideas and taking steps to assist UN SDGs.
• Under “AVSAR” (Airport as Venue for Skilled Artisans of The Region), which is an initiative of AAI, an opportunity to help the indigent to mobilize their households into functionally effective self-earned groups for self-reliance and self-dependence, has been provided.
• The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) has constituted an Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics (AVGC) Promotion Task Force.

• Nepal has received permission to export an additional 325 MW of electricity to the energy market in India, taking the total electricity export to 364 MW.
• The most popular tribal celebration across the Jharkhand region, Sarhul Festival, denotes the beginning of the new year.
• Financial products distributor ICICIdirect entered a partnership with digital B2B platform for insurance services CoverStack under which the entire customer journey on icicidirect.com for insurance products will be powered by CoverStack.
• The World Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) will provide a loan of Rs 7,500 crore for the Gujarat government’s Mission School of Excellence project.

• India’s trade deficit rose 87.5 per cent to USD 192.41 billion in 2021-22 as against USD 102.63 billion in the previous year.

• Tata Steel Foundation (TSF) signed an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the Government of Jharkhand to set-up Industrial Training Institute (ITI) at Chandil in the Seraikela-Kharsawan district of Jharkhand.
• The 9th Edition of the India – Kyrgyzstan Joint Special Forces Exercise which commenced on 25 Mar 2022 at Special Forces Training School, Bakloh (HP) culminated on 06 April 2022 at Bakloh in Himachal Pradesh.
• A team of scientists has discovered a near-identical twin of Jupiter circling a star 17,000 light-years away from the Earth using data obtained in 2016 by NASA’s Kepler space telescope.
• Amazon has signed agreements with three companies – Arianespace, Blue Origin, and United Launch Alliance (ULA), to deploy the majority of its Project Kuiper satellites.
• The ‘QS World University Rankings by Subject 2022’ was released by global higher education think-tank QS Quacquarelli Symonds & as per the global ranking, for the 10th consecutive year, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has been awarded as the best university with a score of 96.5.

• HarperCollins India has announced the release the new book titled “Tiger of Drass, Capt. Anuj Nayyar, 23, Kargil Hero” by Meena Nayyar and Himmat Singh Shekhawat