Excellence by Saikat Sir: Daily Current Affairs August 07 & 08 2022

Daily Current Affairs August 07 & 08 2022

CURRENT AFFAIRS: IMPORTANT DAYS

National Handloom Day- August 7, 2022

In India, National Handloom Day is observed annually on August 7 to promote wearing clothing manufactured by hand by indigenous tribes.
Events are planned all around the country this year as well to increase public understanding and the contribution of citizens to the socioeconomic development of handloom weavers.

History

The handloom sector played an important role during the Swadeshi Movement, which was launched as part of the Indian independence movement, on August 7, 1905.
The movement was started to curb dependency on foreign goods and to boost domestic production.
The movement started the production of khadi in almost every household.
When “at the stroke of the midnight hour” India got independence, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru unfurled the Indian flag made of khadi at Princess Park near India Gate.
National Handloom Day is celebrated on August 7 as it was the same day the Swadeshi Movement was birthed.
The government of India, on August 7, 2015, inaugurated and celebrated National Handloom Day for the first time in Chennai.

The Quit India Movement Day – August 8

Every year on 8 August, the anniversary of the Quit India Movement is marked and observed by paying tribute to freedom fighters who without a doubt laid their lives for the country and its people.
The Quit India Movement was launched by Mahatma Gandhi on 8 August 1942 at the Bombay session of the All-India Congress Committee (AICC).
Also known as the Bharat Chhodo Andolan, this movement was a mass civil disobedience that took place in the country.
During the launch of the movement, the father of the nation delivered a speech amid a ‘do or die situation.
He demanded that the British must leave India immediately or face dire consequences.
As a part of this movement, a call for mass agitation was followed by violence that took over the country after which Indian National Congress leaders were arrested.
The main reason for the Quit India Movement to begin was that the Britishers were planning to drag the country into World War II without consent to fight on behalf of the United Kingdom (UK).
During that time, more than 87,000 Indian soldiers were martyred in World War II including people from Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL NEWS

Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw inaugurates “8 years of MyGov” event in New Delhi:

Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Electronics and IT kicked off a daylong event to celebrate “8 Years of MyGov” in New Delhi.
The event also witnessed the presence of dignitaries including CEO NITI Aayog Shri Parameswaran Iyer, G20 Sherpa Shri Amitabh Kant, and Secretary of Capacity Building Commission Shri Hemang Jani.
The Union Minister Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw also launched ‘Responsible AI for Youth 2022′.
Responsible AI for Youth was created by the National E-Governance Division, Ministry of Electronics & IT in collaboration with Intel India and with the support of the Ministry of Education.
The Program will be open to all school students studying in classes 8-12 across India to foster a deeper understanding of AI-tech and encourage youngsters to become human-centric designers.

About MyGov:

MyGov (mygov. in), the Government of India’s citizen engagement platform, was launched on 26th July 2014 by Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi and has been built on the three pillars of ‘Do’, ‘Discuss’ and ‘Disseminate’.
Since then, MyGov has evolved as the one-stop destination for citizens to contribute their unique skills toward nation-building.
At the same time, MyGov has played a pivotal role in bridging the communication gap through seamless dissemination of information in various creative formats and mediums such as videos, infographics, podcasts, interactive dashboards, etc.

Centre forms task force to monitor monkeypox virus situation in the nation:

The Centre has formed a task force in the wake of Monkeypox cases in India to monitor and provide guidance to the government on the expansion of diagnostic facilities and to explore vaccination for the infection in the country.
The decision was taken during a meeting which was attended by Cabinet secretary, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, Additional Secretary (PMO), and other senior officials.
The team will be headed by Dr. VK Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog, and members including Secretary, Union Health Ministry, Pharma and Biotech
India has reported four Monkeypox cases so far, three cases in Kerala and one in Delhi.
A youth in Kerala presenting monkeypox-like symptoms died, following which state Health Minister Veena George initiated a high-level inquiry.

Tata Steel to roll out ‘First in India’ seating system for Vande Bharat Express trains:

Tata Group is planning to spend Rs 3,000 crore on R&D by FY26 and is set to roll out the ‘First in India’ seating system for Vande Bharat Express trains from September 2022.
The steel-to-salt conglomerate is also targeting to be among the top 5 technology firms in the steel industry globally by 2030.
Tata Steel’s Composites division bagged a Rs 145 crore bulk order for seating systems of the Vande Bharat express that includes the supply of complete seating systems for 22 train sets, with 16 coaches in each train set.
These are specially designed seats, which can rotate 180 degrees and have aircraft-style passenger amenities.
This is a first-in-India’ kind of supply, which will be executed over 12 months starting September 2022, Debashish Bhattacharjee, Vice President, Technology & New Materials Business
Vande Bharat Express, also known as Train 18, is the second fastest train in India, which operates at a speed of 130 km/hr.
The company is targeting to be among the ‘Top 5 in technology in steel industry globally by 2030’ and one of the key enablers for achieving technology leadership is a quick conversion of ideas into pilot testing and commercialization

Union Minister of Environment launched the Indian Virtual Herbarium portal:

Union Environment Minister Shri Bhupender Yadav inaugurated the country’s largest online herbarium database, the ‘Indian Virtual Herbarium’ web portal.
The portal (https://ivh.bsi.gov.in) has been developed by the Botanical Survey of India under the framework of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ and ‘Digital India’.
The portal aims to provide complete information on herbarium specimens about the floral diversity of India and other countries stored in the cabinet of the herbarium building through online access.
At present, the digital herbarium of the Botanical Survey of India has four categories – Cryptogam type specimens, Cryptogams general specimens, Phanerogam type specimens, and Phanerogams general specimens.
It will also aid the research studies and provide valuable insight for global plant research.

About herbarium:

A herbarium (Latin: hortus siccus) is a collection of plant samples with associated data preserved for long-term study.
These materials may include pressed and mounted plants, seeds, dry fruits, wood sections, pollen, microscope slides, silica-stored materials, frozen DNA extractions, and fluid-preserved flowers or fruits; all are generally referred to as herbarium specimens.

Ministry of Women and Child Development issues Guidelines of ‘Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0′:

Ministry of Women and Child Development has issued Operational Guidelines regarding the implementation of ‘Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0′.
The scheme has been approved by the Government of India for implementation during the 15th Finance Commission period 202l-22 to 2025-26.
Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 is an Integrated Nutrition Support Programme.
It seeks to address the challenges of malnutrition in children, adolescent girls, pregnant women, and lactating mothers through a strategic shift in nutrition content and delivery and by the creation of a convergent eco-system to develop and promote practices that nurture health, and wellness, and immunity.
Nutrition Support for POSHAN through Supplementary Nutrition Programme (SNP) for children of the age group of 06 months to 6 years, pregnant women and lactating mothers (PWLM), and Adolescent Girls in the age group of 14 to 18 years in Aspirational Districts and North Eastern Region (NER)
Early Childhood Care and Education [3-6 years] and early stimulation for (0-3 years)
Anganwadi Infrastructure includes modern, upgraded Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan Abhiyaan

Government hikes sugarcane FRP by Rs 15/quintal for 2022-23 season:

The Government announced the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) of sugarcane for sugar season 2022-23 (October-September).
The FRP of sugarcane has been fixed at Rs 305/quintal for a basic recovery rate of 10.25%.
The decision of fixing the sugarcane FRP was taken in the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
FRP of sugarcane for sugar season 2022-23 (October-September) has been fixed at Rs 305/quintal for a basic recovery rate of 10.25%.
Besides, a premium of Rs 3.05/quintal will be provided for each 0.1% increase in recovery over and above 10.25%.
However, for every 0.1% decrease in recovery, the FRP will be reduced by Rs 3.05 per quintal.
The FRP for sugar season 2022-23 is 5.1% higher than Rs 290 per quintal fixed for the sugar season 2021-22. For the sugar season 2021-22, the government had fixed the FRP at Rs 290 per quintal linked to a basic recovery of 10% subject to a premium of Rs 2.90 per quintal for each 0.1% increase of recovery over and above 10% and reduction in FRP at the same rate for each 0.1% decrease in the recovery rate till 9.5%.

NSO develops three labor indicators and says 15% of 60+ employed people worked part-time:

The National Statistical Office, the proportion of employed persons working part-time in the 46-59 years age group at all India levels was more than 10% between 2017-20 while in the age group above 60 years, the proportion of employed persons working part-time was more than 15%.
As per the paper, the Employment Rate of Employed workers living in a household with no child under the age of three years, rose to 61.2% in FY20 from 58.37% in FY18 in the 26-49 years age group.
The proportion of employed persons who are employed in the above 15 age group, has been estimated at 1.91%, 2.17%, and 2.02%, respectively for 2017-18, 2018-19, and 2019-20.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: STATE NEWS

Urban animal rescue center set up in Guindy National Park, Chennai, TN

Tamil Nadu Forest Department has set up the first of its kind Urban animal rescue center located inside the Guindy National Park, Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
As it is a part of the Guindy National Park, a veterinarian attached to it as well as foresters have been working with the center.
The rescue center has two big enclosures and three smaller ones for injured animals.
Among the infrastructural improvements, the center also established a new post-mortem room.
The Tamil Nadu government has recently announced that a remodel of the Guindy National Park will be carried out at a cost of ₹20 crores.

About TN :

Chief minister: M. K. Stalin
Governor: R. N. Ravi
Capital: Chennai

CURRENT AFFAIRS: BANKING & FINANCE

HDFC raises $1.1 billion social loan for financing affordable housing projects in India

Mortgage lender HDFC Ltd has raised USD 1.1 billion (around Rs 8,700 crore) from a clutch of investors under the ‘Syndicated Social Loan Facility’ at about a 3.3 percent rate for financing housing projects in India.
The loan has been priced 90 basis points over the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR).
This is the largest social loan globally, the first external commercial borrowing (ECB) loan out of India, and the largest ECB loan deal from a housing finance company/private NBFC in India.
MUFG Bank Ltd is the Lead Social Loan Coordinator for this transaction along with being one of the Mandated Lead Arrangers and Borrowers (MLAB).
CTBC Bank, Co. Ltd, Mizuho Bank Ltd., State Bank of India, and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation are the other MLABs and Joint Social Loan Coordinators.

Max Life Insurance launches ‘Smart Secure Easy Solution’

Max Life Insurance Company Ltd. has launched Max Life Smart Secure Easy Solution, a comprehensive three-in-one protection solution offering benefits of life, critical illness & disability, and accidental cover.

About ‘Smart Secure Easy Solution’ :

The solution is a combination of Max Life’s Smart Secure Plus Plan.

Aim:

To provide financial protection in case of any uncertainties in life with an accidental cover option and Max Life Critical Illness and Disability Health Rider, which offers an added layer of financial protection in case of critical illnesses, total and permanent disability and provides extra coverage against death due to accident.
With this solution, Max Life also offers coverage against 64 listed critical illnesses, including 5 minor and 59 major illnesses, and covers total and permanent disability.

Key features of Max Life Smart Secure Easy Solution:

Easy issuance and smooth onboarding with only video medical examination and relaxed financial documentation.
Return of premium option available wherein at maturity upon survival, the policyholder will be paid back all the base premium.

About Max Life Insurance Company Ltd :

Founded: 2000
Headquarters: New Delhi, Delhi, India
MD & CEO: Prashant Tripathy

Max Life Insurance Company Limited is a life insurance company in India with a joint venture (JV) between Max India Ltd and Axis Bank

CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPS AND PORTALS

Udyam Portal Of MSME Ministry Achieves Landmark 1 Cr Registrations:

The Ministry of MSME celebrated the landmark of 1 crore registrations on its Udyam Portal.
Following the adoption of the revised definition of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) on 26th June 2020, which is based on investment in plant & machinery or equipment; and turnover, the Udyam Registration Portal was launched on 1st July 2020.
The revised definition did away with the distinction between manufacturing and services enterprises.
The Udyam Portal is linked to the databases of CBDT and GSTN.
It is fully online, does not require any documentation, and is a step towards Ease of Doing Business for MSMEs.
In a span of 25 months, as many as 1 crore MSMEs have registered on the Udyam portal voluntarily and declared that they employ 7.6 crore people, of which 1.7 crore are women.
The Ministry of MSME signed MoUs with the Ministry of Tourism and NSIC for sharing Udyam data.
On this occasion, the Digi Locker facility for Udyam Registration was also launched.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: MOUS AND AGREEMENT

K-DISC and LinkedIn Sign an Agreement to Promote Employability:

The ICT Academy of Kerala (ICTAK) and the Kerala Development and Innovation Strategy Council (K-DISC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with LinkedIn, the biggest professional network in the world, as part of the Connect Career to Campus initiative (CCC).
With this cooperation among Kerala’s young to find appropriate employment utilizing LinkedIn, the Kerala government hopes to improve employability skills.
At the CCC campaign’s launch ceremony, the MoU was signed and exchanged in front of the chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, the ministers of labor and general education V. Sivankutty, higher education R. Bindu, LSGD M.V. Govindan, and MLA Kadakampally Surendran.
The state government says that students would have access to a range of goods and services via LinkedIn.
LinkedIn Insights specially selected LinkedIn learning courses, and LinkedIn jobs are some of the available goods and services.
The pupils can build their online professional brands with the aid of LinkedIn.
The Executive Vice Chairperson of K-DISC, Dr. K.M. Abraham, made sure that the students would receive the most current, cutting-edge, and industry-relevant courses possible.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: APPOINTMENTS & RESIGNATIONS

Center gives one-year extension in service of Mr. Rajiv Gauba as cabinet secretary

The Appointment Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved an extension in service to Mr. Rajiv Gauba as cabinet secretary for a further period of one year beyond 30 August 2022.
This is his second extension as Cabinet Secretary & he will continue in the same position till August 30, 2023.
He was given the first extension for one year in August 2021 with the term ending on 30 August 2022.

About Mr. Rajiv Gauba :

Rajiv Gauba is a 1982-batch IAS officer of the Jharkhand cadre.
On August 30, 2019, Gauba had taken over as the new Cabinet Secretary in the GoI after the superannuation of PK Sinha.
He had served in Jharkhand as the Chief Secretary for 15 months before returning to serve in the central government in 2016.
He also served as an adviser to an executive director of the International Monetary Fund.
He was one of the key implementers of the Center’s decision to abrogate Article 370.
Before becoming Cabinet Secretary, he also served as the secretary in the Union Urban Development Ministry and Additional Secretary in the Home Ministry from August 2017 to August 2019.

Mr. Ranjit Rath appointed as Chairman and MD of Oil India Limited

Ranjit Rath has taken over as new Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Oil India Limited (OIL).
He replaces Sushil Chandra Mishra who superannuated on June 30, 2022.

About Mr. Ranjit Rath :

Ranjit Rath has over 25 years of experience in the field of geosciences.
He served as CEO of Khani Bidesh India Limited, and MD of Bharat Gold Mines Limited.
He held the additional charge of the Director General (DG) of the Geological Survey of India.
He is also a writer and has co-authored books like ‘Underground Storage Technologies.
Before taking over the charge of Oil India Limited, he was the chairman cum managing director of Mineral Exploration & Consultancy Limited under the Ministry of Mines.

Awards & Honors :

In 2016, Rath received the prestigious ‘National Geosciences Award’ from the President of India.

About OIL :

Founded: 18 February 1959
Headquarters: Duliajan, Assam
Oil India Limited (OIL) is the second largest Indian-government-owned hydrocarbon explorer and producer.
It is under the ownership of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, GoI.
For the financial year 2021-22, Oil India had reported its highest ever net profit of Rs 3,887.31 crores, rising by 123.20% from the profit of Rs 1,741.59 crores of the previous fiscal.

Vodafone Idea appoints Mr. Ravinder Takkar as the new chairman

The Board of Directors of Vodafone Idea Limited has appointed Ravinder Takkar as its new chairman.
He will replace Himanshu Kapania.
However, Mr. Kapania will continue to be a part of the VIL board as a non-executive director.
Earlier, Mr. Ravinder Takkar was the managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) of Vodafone Idea Limited (Vi) for three years with effect from August 19, 2019, following the resignation of Mr. Balesh Sharma.

About Vodafone Idea :

Founded: 31 August 2018
Headquarters: Gandhinagar, Gujarat

CJI Shri N V Ramana recommends Justice Shri Uday Umesh Lalit as his successor

Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India Shri Justice N V Ramana recommended the name of the senior-most SC judge, Hon’ble Shri Justice Uday Umesh Lalit (49th CJI of India) as his successor to the Hon’ble Minister for Law and Justice.
Shri Justice Lalit will have a short tenure as the CJI as he is set to retire on November 8, 2022.
CJI Ramana is retiring on August 26, 2022, who had become the 48th CJI of the country on April 24, 2021.

About Shri Justice Lalit :

Shri Justice Lalit was enrolled as an advocate in June 1983 and practiced in the Bombay high court till December 1985.
He was designated senior lawyer by the Supreme Court in April 2004.
Justice Lalit has been part of several landmark judgments including ‘triple talaq’.
He was appointed as an SC judge on August 13, 2014.

Note :

Shri Justice Lalit will become the second CJI who was directly elevated to the apex court from the bar.
Shri Justice S M Sikri, who became the 13th CJI in January 1971, was the first lawyer to be elevated directly to the top court bench in March 1964.
The CJI and other SC judges are appointed by the President of India, as per clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution.
CJI can be removed by an order of the President, following Article 124(4) of the Constitution of India.

CURRENT AFFAIRS: DEFENCE NEWS

Indian Navy’s All-Women Crew Completes Maritime Surveillance Mission Over Arabian Sea

Five women officers of the Indian Naval Air Squadron 314 (INAS 314) based at Naval Air Enclave, Porbandar in Gujarat created history by completing the first all-women independent maritime reconnaissance and surveillance mission over the north Arabian Sea onboard a Dornier 228 aircraft.
The aircraft was captained by Mission Commander Lt Commander Aanchal Sharma, who had pilots Lt Shivangi and Lt Apurva Gite & tactical and sensor officers Lt Pooja Panda and Sub Lt Pooja Shekhawat.
This first-of-its-kind military flying mission was, unique and is expected to pave the way for women officers in the aviation cadre to assume greater responsibility and aspire for more challenging roles.

About INAS 314 :

INAS 314 is a frontline naval air squadron that operates the state-of-the-art Dornier 228 maritime reconnaissance aircraft.
The squadron is commanded by Commander SK Goyal, a qualified navigation instructor.

About the Indian Navy :

Founded: 26 January 1950
Headquarters: New Delhi, Delhi, India
Chief of the Naval Staff: Admiral R. Hari Kumar

DRDO successfully test-fires indigenously-developed laser-guided ATGMs

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) & the Indian Army have successfully test-fired laser-guided Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGM) from Main Battle Tank (MBT) Arjun at KK Ranges with the support of Armoured Corps Centre & School (ACC&S) Ahmednagar in Maharashtra.
The indigenously developed missiles hit with precision and successfully destroyed the targets at two different ranges.
Also, telemetry systems recorded the satisfactory flight performance of the missiles.

About ATGM :

The all-indigenous Laser Guided ATGM employs a tandem High Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT) warhead to defeat Explosive Reactive Armour (ERA) protected armored vehicles.
The ATGM has been developed with multi-platform launch capability and is currently undergoing technical evaluation trials from the 120 mm rifled gun of MBT Arjun.

About MBT Arjun :

MBT Arjun is a state-of-the-art tank with superior firepower, high mobility, and excellent protection.
It is a multi-laboratory program of DRDO with Combat Vehicles Research and Development Establishment (CVRDE) as the lead laboratory.

About DRDO :

Established: 1958
Headquarters: New Delhi, Delhi, India
Chairman: Dr. G. Satheesh Reddy
DRDO is the premier agency under the Department of Defence Research and Development in the Ministry of Defence of the GoI.

About Ministry of Defence :

Defence Minister: Rajnath Singh
Minister of State: Ajay Bhatt
Defence Secretary: Dr. Ajay Kumar

CURRENT AFFAIRS: SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

South Korea Launches First Moon Mission Danuri on SpaceX Rocket

South Korea launched its first-ever deep-space mission Danuri took off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to observe the moon.
The lunar mission has been developed by Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) &
Danuri, which means “enjoy the moon”, successfully separated from the Falcon 9 rocket.
The $180 million KPLO mission is primarily about demonstrating technologies needed to reach and explore the moon, but Danuri will also do meaningful science work from its orbital perch.
The 1,495-pound (678 kilograms) spacecraft carries 6 science instruments, five of them homegrown and one, called ShadowCam, provided by NASA.
South Korea has also planned to land its spacecraft on the moon by 2030.