26th November, 2021 Current Affairs

Sakshi Education

NATIONAL
Defence Acquisition Council approves AK-203 deal with Russia

The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has granted permission for mass production of AK-203 rifles, providing fire power to the standard weapon profile of armed forces. DAC has also approved an independent satellite for Indian Air Force (IAF).
This decision was taken ahead of scheduled visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to India beginning. His visit will start from December 5.
This deal was put on hold since 2018.
The DAC meeting was chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
During the meeting, Minister granted permission to manufacture 7.5 lakh AK-203 assault rifles for IAF, under ‘Make in India’ initiative.
IGA was signed in February 2019. Under this agreement, first 70,000 rifles will include Russian components as technology transfers.
Contract was signed at over Rs. 5,000 crore.
It will lead to manufacturing of 6,014,427 AK-203s for a period of 10-years.

Centre cautions states as new Covid variant detected in South Africa, Hong Kong and Botswana; Asks them to conduct rigorous screening of all incoming passengers

The Centre has cautioned states and union territories against the new variant of COVID-19 detected in South Africa and two other countries.
A new variant of COVID-19 has been detected in Botswana, South Africa and Hong Kong that is the most mutated version of the virus yet, according to experts.
All states and Union territories to conduct rigorous screening and testing of all international travellers coming from or transiting through South Africa, Hong Kong and Botswana.

Centre constitutes Group of Food Secretaries to deliberate on framework of Community Kitchens Scheme

The Centre has constituted a Group of Food Secretaries from States along with Senior officers of Central Government to deliberate on the framework of the Community Kitchens Scheme.
Community Kitchens Scheme needs to be prepared- which is simple, transparent and in the benefit of people.
We should have empathy towards poor of the country and should ensure collective resolve to run successful and transparent food programmes to ensure proper nutrition to children.
Pradhan MantriGaribKalyan Anna Yojana, PMGKAY is probably the world’s largest food programme undertaken, during COVID period. No one in the country was deprived of food grains.
It should be our resolve that quality food grains should reach the beneficiaries in all parts of the country on the basis of need for focused and identified set of people who are vulnerable especially women and children including homeless, slum dwellers, workers on industrial and construction sites.

INTERNATIONAL

Burkina Faso extends suspension of mobile internet services

The government in Burkina Faso has extended the suspension of mobile internet services. Services were supposed to have been restored, after being shut down for four days.
The shutdown came amid anti-French demonstrations and growing political unrest in the country over insecurity. The government explained the initial suspension by citing national security and defence reasons and a Spokesperson said, concerns still existed.
Earlier in the week, the government had offered a different explanation saying the nation wanted silence while burying its soldiers. Dozens of soldiers were killed last week in a suspected militant jihadist attack in the north.

India elected to UNESCO World Heritage Committee for 2021-25: EAM S. Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar today said that India has been elected to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee for 2021-25.
The Minister termed it as a good day for Indian diplomacy as Praveen Sinha was also elected to the INTERPOL Executive Committee.

Sweden's first ever female prime minister resigns over budget defeat hours after appointment

Just hours after her appointment, Sweden's first ever female prime minister Magdalena Andersson has resigned after suffering a budget defeat in parliament. Her coalition partner the Greens has also left the two-party minority government.
The government’s own budget proposal was rejected in favour of one presented by the opposition that includes the right-wing populist Sweden Democrats. The vote was 154-143 in favour of the opposition’s budget proposal.
Leader of the Social Democratic party Andersson decided it was best to step down from the post more than seven hours after she made history by becoming the first woman to lead the country.
Andersson, who was finance minister before briefly becoming prime minister, informed parliamentary Speaker Andreas Norlen that she is still interested in leading a Social Democratic one-party government.
After accepting her resignation, the speaker of Sweden’s 349-seat parliament said he will contact Sweden’s eight party leaders to discuss the situation

Ethiopia's PM Abiy Ahmed goes to direct the war from front lines

Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has gone to direct the war from the front lines.Deputy Prime Minister DemekeMekonnenHassen will take charge of routine government business in the absence of the Prime Minister.
Two Olympian athletes Haile Gebrselassie and Feyisa Lelisa have also announced they are enlisting in the military.
Last month, Tigrayan forces and their allies threatened to march on the capital Addis Ababa.
Ethiopia expelled four of six Irish diplomats from the country because of Ireland's stance on the conflict.

India’s candidate, Praveen Sinha, elected as Delegate for Asia on Executive Committee of INTERPOL

India’s candidate, Praveen Sinha, Special Director of Central Bureau of Investigation was elected as Delegate for Asia on the Executive Committee of the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL).
Sources said this was a tough election, with India running against four other contestants for two posts. The four contestants were China, Singapore, South Korea and Jordan.
The elections were held in Istanbul, Turkey during the ongoing 89th INTERPOL General Assembly. INTERPOL is a vital body for tackling the rising spectre of trans-national organized crimes, terrorism and cyber-crimes.
India’s National Central Bureau (NCB-India) also reached out to its counterparts around the world to campaign for this election. The Indian Ambassador in Turkey camped in Istanbul for the last few days and held on-the-ground bilateral meetings with delegations for the final efforts to gain support.

REPORTS

National Family Health Survey-5- Highlights

The National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5) findings were released on November 24, 2021
Report finds that, in Uttar Pradesh, only 1.5% women aged between 30 and 49 years have undergone screening test for cervical cancer in life.
Many health indicators have improved in the state.
Less domestic violence with women was reported.
Sex ratio has also improved.
Use of family planning methods and institutional delivery has increased.
Diarrhoea infection among kids has decreased.
As per NFHS-5, 1.1 % women in urban areas and 1.7 % women in rural areas underwent screening. Thus, rural women scored better with respect to awareness and screening for cervical cancer.
Number of women (aged 30-49 years) who had undergone breast examination for cancer was just 0.4%, in rural as well as urban areas surveyed.
Number of women, who undergone for oral cavity examination for cancer was only 0.6% in rural as well as urban areas.
Overall, 34.8% married women aged 18-49 years had experienced spousal violence.
In urban areas, this ratio was 32.7% while in rural areas it was 35.5%.
NFHS-5 finds that, sex ratio has improved in the state. Sex ratio of the total population has reached to 1017 in NFHS-5 as opposed to 995 in NFHS 4.

ENVIRONMENT

Climate Change: Germany announces Euro 1.2 bn to aid India

Germany has announced new development commitments of around Euro 1.2 billion aid to India, in support of India’s fight against climate change.
This fund will also be used for cooperation on clean energy.
Announcement for aid was made amid the visit of a delegation from German Ministry of Economic Cooperation & Development.
Indo-German cooperation rests on four key megatrends namely, Urbanisation, climate change, pressure on democracy & society and degradation of natural resources.
Germany is currently working with India in the focal areas of:
Energy (€5.08 bn)
Sustainable Urban Development (€3.16 bn)
Management of Natural Resources & Agriculture (€435 mn)
Health and social protection (€568 mn).

Under its commitments, Germany allotted:

€713 million for energy
€409 million for urban development
€90 million for agroecology & natural resources.
These projects will support India’s targets to expand solar power generation.

5th World Congress on Disaster Management (WCDM)

Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh, virtually inaugurated the “5th World Congress on Disaster Management (WCDM)” on November 24, 2021.
While inaugurating the conference, minister noted that, Indian Armed Forces have demonstrated time and again that they care for and stand by India’s partners when they need without distinguishing between natural or man-made disasters.
He reiterated India’s vision for the Indian Ocean, summarized by the concept of SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region).

SAGAR comprises of both distinct and inter-related elements like:

Deepening economic & security cooperation among littoral states
Enhancing capacities to safeguard land & maritime territories
Working towards sustainable regional development & Blue Economy
Promoting collective action for dealing with non-traditional threats such as piracy, terrorism and natural disasters.

science and technology

Hubble Telescope Observes Prawn Nebula

The Hubble Telescope has observed “Prawn Nebula”, which is a massive stellar nursery located around 6,000 light-years away in Scorpius constellation.
Astronomers classify the Prawn Nebula as an emission nebula, meaning that its gas has been energized, or ionized, by the radiation of neighbouring stars.
Radiation from these massive stars catches electrons from the hydrogen atoms of nebula.
When the energized electrons go from higher-energy state to their lower-energy state by combining with hydrogen nuclei, they emit energy in the form of light, which in turn causes the nebula’s gas to glow. In the recent Hubble image, presence of ionized iron emission was indicated in red.
Prawn Nebula is also called as IC 4628. It is an emission nebula located in Sagittarius Arm of the Milky Way. Its distance is around 6,000 light-years from Earth in Scorpius constellation.
Nebula forms part of the tail of “False Comet” anchored by bright open cluster NGC 6231. This Nebula is also called as Gum 56, honouring Australian astronomer Colin Gum. Gum had published a catalogue of HII regions in 1955.

ANDHRAPRADESH

AP Motor Vehicles Taxation (Amendment) Bill 2021

Andhra Pradesh (AP) government, in an eco-friendly move, has passed ‘AP Motor Vehicles Taxation (Amendment) Bill 2021’ to levy a green tax.
This move can cause additional burden on vehicle buyers.
Green tax will be imposed on all vehicles, except motorcycles and auto rickshaws
This amendment was made due to central government’s recommendation of ‘green tax’ which will help in saving environment from carbon emissions by making vehicle owners pay for the pollution they cause.
In case, transport vehicles are 7- 10 years old from the time of registration, a green tax of Rs. 4,000 will be levied. This amount is half of the quarterly tax per annum.
Similarly, if the vehicle is 10- 12 years old, Rs. 5000 per annum will be levied.
If the vehicle is above 12 years old, green tax of Rs. 6,000 per annum will be levied.
Besides green tax, government has increased tax on new vehicles by one percent for the vehicles that costs below Rs. 5 lakh. There is a tax increase by 3 per cent on vehicles costing between Rs. 10 and 20 lakhs. On the other hand, 18 percent tax will be imposed on luxury vehicles which costs more than Rs 20 lakhs.