19th April, 2022 Current Affairs

Sakshi Education

NATIONAL
NITI Aayog to launch National Data and Analytics Platform

In May, the NITI Aayog plans to launch the National Data and Analytics Platform (NDAP), which would give government data in a user-friendly manner and encourage data-driven decision-making and research. The platform, which was conceived in 2020, aims to standardise data across government sources and provide flexible analytics that allow users to easily analyse data using numerous datasets.
The platform, according to an AIR correspondent quoting a Senior Adviser at NITI Aayog, will allow policymakers, scholars, and researchers to easily analyse data without having to process it.
At the time of debut, the portal will feature 200 datasets from over 46 ministries.
In the future, new datasets will be uploaded up to the village level. Many government agencies now offer public dashboards with various possibilities.
Many government departments now have public dashboards with data download options; some are provided as image files, while others are in PDF format, making data compilation problematic.

UDAN scheme selected for PM Award for Excellence in Public Administration 2020

The Regional Connectivity Scheme UDAN (UdeDeshkaAamNagrik), the flagship scheme of the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has been selected for Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration 2020 under the category “Innovation (General) – Central”.
UDAN scheme emphasizes on Good Governance, Qualitative achievements, and last mile connectivity rather than only on achievement of quantitative targets. In a short span of five years, 415 UDAN routes have connected 66 underserved and unserved airports, including heliports and over 92 lakh people have benefited from it.

India’s 1st Internet Radio “Radio Aksh” For Visually Challenged Launched in Nagpur

India’s first-ever radio channel for the visually impaired, named ‘Radio Aksh’ has been launched in Nagpur, Maharashtra. Nagpur’s 96-year-old institution, The Blind Relief Association Nagpur (TBRAN) and Samdrushti Kshamata Vikas Avam Anusandhan Mandal (Saksham) are the organisations behind this idea. The channel will be available on various internet radio platforms for free.
A dedicated team of trained volunteers, mostly women, help in the creation of content for the radio channel, which can be streamed to the visually impaired across India and the world. The complex, carefully-performed processes of going through large amounts of content, recording, sound editing and making corrections do not dampen the productivity and the sense of servitude guides the entire team.

Economy
Paytm is the official digital payments partner for Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya

Paytm has become an official digital payments partner for the prime ministers’ museum. It is offering its payment gateway, EDC (Electronic Data Capture) machines and QR code payment options to make way for superfast, convenient and secure transactions. The museum, which is a tribute to former Prime Ministers of India, will be opened to the public on April 21, 2022. PM Modi also purchased the first ticket of the museum before its inauguration.
The museum is built at a cost of Rs. 271 crores. It is constructed on the site of Teen Murti Estate, which served as the home of India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, for 16 years until being converted into the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) following his death.

INTERNATIONAL
India gets elected in 4 UN ECOSOC Bodies 2022

India has been elected to the United Nations Economic and Social Council’s (ECOSOC) four major bodies, including the Commission on Science and Technology for Development.
To the Committee for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Ambassador Preeti Saran has been re-elected. In 2018, she was first elected to the Asia Pacific seat on the UN’s Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights. On 1st January 2019, her first four-year term began.

The 4 bodies to which India has been elected

The Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights
The Commission for Social Development
The Committee on Non-Governmental Organisations
The Commission on Science and Technology for Development

Agricultural imports from India suspended by Indonesia

Indonesia has stopped imports of agricultural products from India, citing a failure by New Delhi officials to register laboratories that evaluate food safety and issue certificates of analysis (COA), causing worry among cereal exporters.
In an order to the head of its Agricultural Quarantine Centre, the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture stated that its authority to accredited laboratories for testing the safety of fresh food from India and issuing the COA has been revoked.
COAs issued by laboratories indicating that clear exports of fresh food of plant origin were certified in 2019 would not be recognised, according to the Ministry, although certificates issued on or before March 24 will be legitimate.
Indonesian exporters have been notified of the order. The news came after Indonesia issued a notice to exporters requiring them to give extra information to the COA.
The notification was sent three to four months ago by Indonesia.
While countries like Vietnam and Thailand were able to register their laboratories providing COAs well ahead of time, Indian authorities were unable to meet the deadline.
The registration application should be submitted through diplomatic channels. However, the embassy in Jakarta failed to register on time.
During the April-January fiscal year 2021-22, Indonesia accounted for 6% of India’s wheat exports. It bought 3.64 litres out of the 60.2 litres shipped out over the time period. In terms of rice, Jakarta purchased 2.07 lt from India, accounting for 2% of the total 13.9 million tonnes shipped by New Delhi from April 2021 to January 2nd, 2022.

United Nations report suggested COVID plunged 77 million into poverty prior Ukraine war

According to a United Nations report released, the pandemic pushed 77 million additional people into severe poverty last year, and many developing nations are unable to recover due to the heavy cost of loan repayments — and that was before the extra burden of the crisis in Ukraine.
According to the United Nations, 812 million people lived in severe poverty on $1.90 per day or less in 2019, and by 2021, the figure had climbed to 889 million due to the pandemic.
The report focuses on funding to accomplish the United Nations’ 2030 development goals, which include eradicating poverty, providing high-quality education to all young people, and attaining gender equality.
The war in Ukraine has had a global impact. According to a United Nations report, the war in Ukraine has put 1.7 billion people at risk of rising food, energy, and fertiliser costs.
Even after absorbing the impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine, the analysis projects that GDP per capita in 20% of developing countries will not return to pre-2019 levels by the end of 2023.
According to the report, the poorest developing countries pay 14 percent of their revenue in debt interest, with many being compelled to cut budgets for education, infrastructure, and capital spending as a result of the pandemic.

SPORTS
Danish Open swimming: Sajan Prakash wins gold
Top Indian swimmer SajanPrakash won the men’s 200m butterfly gold at the Danish Open swimming meet in Copenhagen, Denmark. Competing in his first international meet this year, Prakash stopped the clock at 1.59.27 to stand atop the podium. Earlier, the swimmer from Kerala had clocked 2.03.67 in the heats to qualify for the ‘A’ final.
Vedaant Madhavan bagged the silver medal in the men’s 1500m freestyle
16-year-old, Vedaant Madhavan bagged the silver medal in the men’s 1500m freestyle event, who is the son of actor R Madhavan clocked 15.57.86 to finish second in the 10-swimmer final. He had won a bronze medal at the Latvia Open in March 2021, and had also impressed at the Junior National Aquatic Championships last year, bagging seven medals — four silver and three bronzes.
New Zealand pacer Hamish Bennett announced retirement from all forms of cricket

The 35-year-old, New Zealand pacer (fast bowler) Hamish Bennett, has announced his retirement from his 17-year-old cricket career with the 2021/22 season as the last one. Before retiring, Bennett represented New Zealand in T20I against Bangladesh in Mirpur, Pakistan in September 2021.
Hamish Bennett made his international debut in October 2010 and represented New Zealand in one Test, 19 One Day International (ODIs) and 11 Twenty-20 Internationals (T20Is). Overall, he picked up 33 wickets in ODIs and 10 wickets in T20Is.

AWARDS
AIMA honours Shoojit Sircar with Director Of The Year award

NitinGadkari, Minister for Road Transport and Highways, presented the 2021 AIMA Managing India Awards (AIMA) in multiple categories in Delhi.
In the films category, Shoojit Sircar was honoured with the Director Of The Year award for Sardar Udham.
This year, the 12th edition of the AIMA Managing India Awards is being organised physically, coinciding with the 7th National Leadership Conclave.
Every year, AIMA presents the Director of the Year award, which recognises an individual “who has exemplified the spirit of filmmaking and created a masterpiece out of it”. As per the description of the award, it is given to those directors “who have created a masterpiece that is path breaking and is worth watching over and over again”.

Published date : 19 Apr 2022 06:18PM