29th September, 2021 Current Affairs

Sakshi Education

NATIONAL
Agriculture Minister N S Tomar launches Amul Honey

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar launched ‘Amul Honey- a product of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. under active cooperation with ‘National Bee Board’.
Mr.Tomar emphasized the importance of National Beekeeping and Honey Mission in increasing the income of small farmers. The Mission is being implemented in the country for doubling income of farmers and beekeepers through beekeeping with the budgetary allocation of 500 crores rupees.
There are 86 percent small farmers in the country. In order to increase the income of these small farmers, it is necessary to connect them with other dimensions of agriculture like beekeeping.

Election Commission announces bye-elections to three Lok Sabha seats, 30 Assembly constituencies in 14 States

The Election Commission announced bye-elections to three Lok Sabha constituencies. The bye-polls to Khandwa Constituency in Madhya Pradesh, Mandi in Himachal Pradesh and Dadra Nagar Haveli constituency, will be held on 30th of October.
The Commission also announced bye-polls to 30 Assembly constituencies in 14 states. They include five constituencies in Assam, four in West Bengal, three each in Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Meghalaya, two each in Rajsthan, Bihar and Karnataka. One constituency each in Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Nagaland and Telangana will go to bye-polls. The voting for the Assembly bye-polls will also be held on 30th of next month.
The notification for the Lok Sabha and the Assembly bye-polls will be issued on 1st of October and the nominations shall be filed till the 8th of next month.

ICMR Report of the Hospital Based Cancer Registries 2021

Indian Council of medical research (ICMR) recently released its report titled “Clinicopathological Profile of Cancers in India: A Report of Hospital Based Cancer Registries, 2021”. The report provides data on cancer cases in India. It was prepared by ICMR- National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research, Bengaluru.
As per report, total of 6.10 lakh cancers have been reported in India in between 2012 to 2019.
Out of these, 52.4 percent cases were reported among males while 47.6 percent cases were reported among females.
These cases were reported under the National Cancer Registry Programme (NCRP).
Childhood cancers (among 0-14 years old children) amount to 7.9 per cent of all cancer cases.
Cancers due to tobacco use amounted to 48.7 per cent of cancers among males while 16.5 per cent among females.
Under the NCRP, 13,32,207 cancer cases were registered from 96 hospitals during 2012-19. Out of these, 6,10,084 cases were included for analysis.
One-third of patients, diagnosed with cancers of the tongue, thyroid, larynx, corpus uteri, kidney, bladder etc, had localized disease at the time of presentation.
Cancer surveillance is an essential part of cancer prevention and control measures. To conduct regular surveillance, ICMR started NCRP in 1981, using a network of Population and Hospital Based Cancer Registries (PBCRs and HBCRs).

India's commitment to enhance share of renewable energy to 60% of total power demand at major ports

Shipping Minister SarbanandaSonowal has said that India intends to increase share of renewable energy to 60 percent of total power demand of each of its major port from present share of less than 10 percent.
This will be through solar and wind generated power.
Virtually addressing the high level session on IMO-Norway Green Voyage 2050 Project in New Delhi , Mr.Sonowalsaid 50 percent of port equipment will be electrified by 2030, and all ports shall supply shore power to all visiting ships in a three-phased manner by that time.
The ports have also aimed to reduce Carbon emissions per ton of cargo handled by 30 percent by 2030.The Minister said India is on path to low carbon economy and shipping.
The Maritime Vision Document 2030 is a 10- Year blue print on India’s vision of a sustainable Maritime sector and vibrant blue economy. He informed that India has been selected as the first country under IMO Green Voyage 2050 project for conduct of a pilot project related to Green Shipping.

INTERNATIONAL
At least 12 groups designated as Foreign Terrorist Organisations by America are based in Pakistan, says US Congress report

A US Congress report says at least 12 groups designated as “foreign terrorist organizations” by the US are based in Pakistan. They include five that are India-centric, according to the latest Congressional report on terrorism.
The report, ‘Terrorist and Other Militant Groups in Pakistan’, released by the research wing of the US Congress, said the Pakistan-based groups could be broadly categorized into five types - globally oriented, Afghanistan-oriented, India and Kashmir-oriented, domestically oriented and sectarian (anti-Shia).
The prominent India-centric groups include Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Harakat-ul Jihad Islami and Hizb-ulMujahideen.

North Korea reportedly fires short-range missile towards sea off its east coast at wee hours

North Korea has reportedly fired a short-range missile towards the sea off its east coast at wee hours today. Earlier this month Pyongyang has also test-fired both ballistic and cruise missiles.
The test occurred as North Korea’s ambassador said at the UN that no-one could deny Pyongyang’s right to self-defence and to test weapons.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in has ordered Seoul’s National Security Council to analyse any intentions behind Pyongyang’s latest missile launch and recent statements from Kim Jong-un’s powerful sister, Kim Yo-jong.
But several days ago North Korea had also expressed willingness to engage in talks with the South. The US military said in a statement that it was aware of the missile launch but that it posed no immediate threat to US personnel or its allies.
Japanese media quoted the defence ministry as saying that the projectile may have been a ballistic missile, which is banned under United Nations sanctions.

Germany’s Social Democratic Party wins largest share of vote in federal election

Germany’s left-leaning Social Democratic Party (SPD) has won the largest share of the vote in federal election, putting them in leading position to form the country’s next coalition government. But forming of a new government will take time, as no party has majority of its own in new Parliament.
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) along with their affiliated Bavarian Christian Social Union, suffered their worst general federal election result ever and were defeated by the left-leaning Social Democrats (SPD). The SPD, Germany’s oldest party, won 25.7 per cent of the vote, up five percentage points from the 2017 federal election, ahead of Merkel’s CDU/CSU (Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union) conservative bloc on 24.1 per cent, provisional results showed. The Greens came in with 14.8 per cent and the FDP won 11.5 per cent.
Olaf Scholz ’s Social Democrats (SPD) said Germany always has coalition governments and it was always stable. Angela Merkel will step down as Germany’s chancellor once a new coalition deal is agreed and her replacement is confirmed.

Afghanistan’s banking system near collapse

Afghanistan’s banking system is reportedly nearing collapse. Talking to media the Chief Executive of the Islamic Bank of Afghanistan Syed MoosaKaleem Al-Falahi has said the country’s financial industry is in the grip of an existential crisis as customers have panicked.
Only withdrawals are happening and most of the banks are not functioning. Afghanistan’s economy was already on shaky grounds even before the Taliban took control in August.
According to the World Bank. It is hugely dependent on foreign aid,about 40% of its gross domestic product (GDP) comes from international aid.

China rules out easing of visa curbs and border controls in the near future

China ruled out the easing of visa curbs and border controls in the near future which have prevented thousands of stranded Indians from returning to Beijing, saying it will make timely adjustments and proper arrangements in light of the changing situation and needs.
Responding to questions on Indian ambassador to Beijing VikramMisri’s criticism of China’s prolonged stringent travel restrictions, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said the prevention and control measures that China has to adopt amid COVID-19 are appropriate and not targeting India but applied to everyone. Mr. Misri, in his address to the Track-II Dialogue on China-India Relations last week, expressed “disappointment” over China's reluctance to permit the return of thousands of stranded Indian students, employees and their families due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

ECONOMY
Revamped Quarterly employment survey (QES)- Highlights

The revamped quarterly employment survey (QES) for the months April-June was released on September 27, 2021 by Labour and Employment Minister Bhupendra Yadav.
As per the survey, estimated total employment across nine selected sectors from first round of QES was 3 crores-8 lakhs.
A growth rate of 29% was reported from a total of 2.3 crore in the sixth economic census (EC).
Nine selected sectors selected for the survey include- manufacturing, construction, transport, trade, education, accommodation & restaurant, health, IT/BPO and financial services. These sectors account for a majority of total employment in non-farm establishments.
Out of total employment in the selected nine sectors, manufacturing accounts 41%. It is followed by Education (22%) and Health (8%).
As per report, IT/BPO sector witnessed the impressive growth of 152%. Health sector reported the growth of 77%. In education, growth is 39%. In Manufacturing, transport and construction there is a growth of 22%, 68% and 42% respectively.

Employment scenario

Employment in trade has reduced by 25% and in accommodation & restaurant it declined by 13%. Financial services witnessed a growth of 48% in employment.
As per report, 90% of the establishments have been working with less than 100 workers as against the figure of 95% during sixth Economic Census (EC).
About 35% of the IT/ BPO establishments worked with 100 workers.
In Health sector, 18% of the establishments worked with 100 or more workers.
Participation of female workers was at 29% as compared to 31% during 6th EC.
Regular workers constitute 88% of the estimated workforce across the nine selected sectors.
Only 9% of the establishments (with 10 workers) were not registered with any authority or any act.

ENVIRONMENT
Australia: Fossil of Oldest Koala-hunting eagle discovered

Scientists have excavated the remains of an ancient eagle near a barren, dried-up lake in Southern Australia.
This majestic bird is believed to be 25 million years old when the land of southern Australia was teemed with lush forests.
For eagle, this part of the land was teemed with helpless prey.
It was found near Australia’s Lake Pinpa, which is now-deserted.
Discovery includes a whopping 63 well-kept fossils which also comprises the entirety of the eagle’s skeleton.
Koala-hunting eagle was slightly smaller and leaner than the wedge-tailed eagle. However, its the largest eagle known in Australia, found about 25 million years ago. They are known as wedge-tail, or wedgies in Australia. They had a broad-winged bird of prey, similar to size of bald eagle of America.
It is rare to find even one bone from a fossil eagle. Thus, finding most of the skeleton becomes significant. These plentiful fossils are a rare find and they belong to one of the oldest & mightiest eaglelike raptors across the world.

SPORTS
Indian fencer Bhavani Devi’s sword in e-auction of gifts, mementos received by PM

The sword of the first Indian woman fencer to qualify for Olympics, Bhavani Devi is now in e-auction of gifts and mementos received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The auction proceeds will go to ‘NamamiGangeKosh’.
It was a momentous day for Bhavani Devi when she became the first Indian woman fencer to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. She made history by winning her first match at the Tokyo Olympics.
The fence has been included in the e-auction of gifts and mementos received by Prime Minister. People can participate in the e-auction at pmmementos.gov.in/ till 7th of next month. In the last such auction that took place was in 2019, the government earned 15.13 crore rupees.

Published date : 29 Sep 2021 06:19PM