18th August, 2022 Current Affairs

Sakshi Education

NATIONAL
PM Modi announced ‘Panch Pran’ goal for the next 25 years

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to the nation from the Red Fort for the ninth time in a row on August 15, 2022. PM Modi, in his 88-minute speech, outlined his “Panch Pran Targets” (Five Resolves) to make India a developed country by the time it celebrates its 100th Independence Day in 25 years. Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed the Panch Pran Goal.

Panch Pran: India’s developed standards

Cleanliness campaigns, vaccinations, electrical connections, the elimination of open defecation, and the usage of solar energy are all examples of established India standards according to the Panch Pran.
A prime illustration of “liberation from the concept of servitude” is the New National Education Policy.
Women’s rights, gender equality, and India First are national emblems of solidarity and unity.
India would advance if its citizens carry out obligations like saving power, practising chemical-free agriculture, and making the most of the available irrigation water.

Government blocks 8 YouTube news channels for spreading disinformation on country’s security, foreign relations and public order

Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has blocked eight YouTube news channels, one Facebook account and two Facebook posts for spreading disinformation related to country's national security, foreign relations and public order.
The YouTube channels which have been blocked under Information Technology Rules, include seven Indian and one Pakistan-based news channel. Loktantra Tv, U&V TV, AM Razvi, Sarkari Update and Pakistan-based channel News ki Dunya are among those which have been blocked.
These YouTube channels had a cumulative viewership of over 114 crore and were subscribed by over 85 lakh users. It said, These channels were also used to post fake news on various subjects such as the Indian Armed Forces and Jammu and Kashmir.
The content was observed to be completely false and sensitive from the perspective of national security and India’s friendly relations with foreign States.
The content blocked by the Ministry was found to be detrimental to sovereignty and integrity of India, security of the State, India’s friendly relations with foreign States, and public order in the country.
With this action, since December 2021 the government has blocked 102 YouTube-based news channels and several other social media accounts.
The Government remains committed towards ensuring an authentic, trustworthy, and safe online news media environment, and thwart any attempts at undermining India’s sovereignty and integrity.

NSA Ajit Doval holds talks with his Russian counterpart Nikolai Patrushev in Moscow

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval held talks with his Russian counterpart Nikolai Patrushev in Moscow, focusing on bilateral, regional and global issues. Both sides discussed issues relating to bilateral cooperation in the areas of security as well as topical issues on the regional and international agenda.
They also agreed to continue the dialogue between the two countries' Security Councils, having emphasised the progressive development of the Russian-Indian special and privileged strategic partnership. India has been maintaining that the crisis in Ukraine must be resolved through diplomacy and dialogue.
In the last few months, India has also increased the import of discounted crude oil from Russia.
India's crude oil imports from Russia has risen over 50 times since April and now it makes up for 10 per cent of all crude bought from overseas.

Centre Approves Limit of Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme(ECLGS) to 5 Lakh Crore

The Union Cabinet approved the enhancement in the limit of the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) by Rs 50,000 crore to Rs 5 lakh crore, with the additional amount being earmarked exclusively for enterprises in hospitality and related sectors. ECLGS is a continuing scheme and the additional amount of Rs. 50,000 crore would be made applicable to enterprises in hospitality and related sectors till validity of the scheme in March 31 next year.
The enhancement is expected to provide much-needed relief to enterprises in these sectors by incentivizing lending institutions to provide additional credit of up to Rs 50,000 crore at low cost, enabling these business enterprises to meet their operational liabilities and continue their businesses. Loans of about Rs. 3.67 Lakh crore have been sanctioned under ECLGS till August 5.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh gives “F-INSAS” system to Indian Army

Defence Minister of India, Rajnath Singh handed over to the Indian Army the much-awaited Future Infantry Soldier as a System (F-INSAS) at the unveiling ceremony of various defence and strategic systems held in Delhi. The full gear of the F-INSAS includes an AK-203 assault rifle, which is a Russian-origin gas-operated, magazine-fed, select-fire assault rifle.
The units of the rifle, which has a range of 300 metres, will be manufactured by an India-Russia joint venture.
A rifle-mounted holographic sight with a range of 200 meters has been provided for target acquisition.
A helmet-mounted night vision facility has been provided for infantry. The helmet and vest can protect from 9 mm ammunition and AK-47 assault rifles.
A hands-free headset has been provided for communication with command posts and other elements on the battlefield.

Cabinet approves interest subvention of 1.5% per annum on Short Term Agriculture Loan for adequate credit flow to farmers

The Cabinet has approved interest subvention of 1.5 percent on Short Term Agriculture Loan upto three lakh rupees. Briefing media after the Cabinet meeting in New Delhi, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said the decision has been taken to ensure adequate credit flow in the agriculture sector.

He said, the interest subvention of 1.5 per cent will be provided to lending institutions by the Government. This increase in Interest Subvention support requires additional budgetary provisions of 34 thousand 856 crore rupees for the period of 2022-23 to 2024-25 under the scheme.
The Government also approved enhancement of the limit of Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme by 50 thousand crore rupees for the Travel, Tourism and Hospitality sector.
The objective of the ECLG scheme is to provide 100 percent guarantee coverage to Banks and NBFCs to enable them to extend emergency credit facilities to Business Enterprises.
The Cabinet also approved providing access to the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library database to users including patent applicants and researchers.
The Cabinet was apprised of the signing of contract between the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, France on behalf of the International Transport Forum and the Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council, India.
The contract has been made to support the International Transport Forum activities on the Indian Transport Sector. It was signed on the 6th of July this year.

INTERNATIONAL

India voluntary trust funds for defence of human rights more than Rs 3 crore

India has donated $ 400,000 (more than Rs 3 crore) to as many as four Voluntary Trust Funds, according to information released by the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations in Geneva. It went on to say that the donation to Voluntary Trust Funds was made to show India’s commitment to the global advancement and protection of human rights as well as its support for the UN Human Rights Council. India has donated $400,000 to 4 Voluntary Trust Funds on Torture, Technical Cooperation, Implementation of UPR & LDCs/SIDS, reflecting our commitment to worldwide promotion & protection of human rights and support for UNHumanRights.
The Voluntary Trust Funds for Victims of Torture is a special UN programme that offers direct aid to torture victims and their families. It was created by the General Assembly in 1981 to raise awareness of the issues facing torture victims throughout. The UN Secretary-General established the Voluntary Fund for Technical Cooperation in the Field of Human Rights in 1987. It receives funding from donations made voluntarily and provides technical assistance to countries upon request from their governments.

Simon Stiell of Grenada named as new UNFCCC Executive Secretary

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Simon Stiell as the new Executive Secretary of the United Nations Climate Change Secretariat based in Bonn, Germany. The appointment has been endorsed by the Bureau of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has near universal membership and is the parent treaty of the 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement. The main aim of the Paris Agreement is to keep a global average temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius and to drive efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

4th India-Philippines Strategic Dialogue held in Manila

The 4th India-Philippines Strategic Dialogue was held in Manila today. It was co-chaired by Secretary (East) Saurabh Kumar and Undersecretary Theresa Lazaro.
The two sides exchanged views on regional and global issues, and bilateral security cooperation.

Published date : 18 Aug 2022 05:55PM