Daily CURRENT AFFAIRS

Daily Current Affair - UPSC/KAS Exams - 10th August 2021

What is in news : Recently, the Union Minister of State for Rural Development has informed in Rajya Sabha about the various steps taken by the government for implementation of the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana

About:

• Launched in 2014
• On the birth anniversary of Jai Prakash Narayan.
• Members of Parliament (MPs) are responsible for developing the socio-economic and physical infrastructure of three villages each by 2019, and a total of eight villages each by 2024.
• The first Adarsh Gram (Model Village) was to be developed by 2016, and two more by 2019.
• From 2019 to 2024, five more Adarsh Grams must be developed by each MP, one each year.
• The MPs would be free to identify a suitable Gram Panchayat for developing Adarsh Gram, other than his/her own village or that of his/her spouse.
• Under- Ministry of Rural Development
• Process:
  • Gram Panchayat (GP): The basic unit for development.
  • Lok Sabha MP: Chooses a GP from within his/her constituency.
  • Rajya Sabha MP: Chooses a GP from the rural area of a district of his/her choice in the State from which he/she is elected.
  • Nominated MP: Chooses a GP from the rural area of any district in the country.
• Expected Outcomes:
  • Increased livelihoods/employment opportunities.
  • Reduction in distress migration.
  • Freedom from bonded labour, child labour and manual scavenging.
  • 100% registration of deaths and births.
  • Evolution of alternate dispute resolution system acceptable to all sections of the community.

What : Skill development scheme

By : Ministry of Minority Affairs

Since : 2015

Details :

• Target - Minorities in age group 14 - 35 years
• Aim - Providing employment and employment opportunities, improving the employability of existing workers, school dropouts etc.
• Ensures 75% placement, out of which 50% should be in organized sector
• Implementing organizations will be required to establish linkages with placement services, and for the candidates interested in self-employment after availing the training, the organization shall arrange easy micro finance/ loans for them through financial institutions, National Minority Development Finance Corporation (NMDFC), banks etc
• Post placement support of Rs. 2000/- per month is provided to placed trainees for two months as placement assistance

What is in news : Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to launch the second edition of the government’s free LPG connection scheme called Ujjwala.

What is new :

• First refill and a hotplate free of cost to beneficiaries
• Eased enrollment

About UJJWALA :

• Launched in May 2016.
• Aim: To provide LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) connections to poor households.
• Key features: A deposit-free LPG connection is given to eligible with financial assistance of Rs 1,600 per connection by the Centre.
• Target: The scheme gained traction with its ambit being expanded to include 80 million poor families from the earlier target of 50 million families with an additional allocation of Rs4,800 crore.
• Eligibility criteria:
  • Applicant must a woman above the age of 18 and a citizen of India.
  • Applicant should belong to a BPL (Below Poverty Line) household.
  • No one in the applicant’s household should own an LPG connection.
  • The household income of the family, per month, must not exceed a certain limit as defined by the government of the Union Territories and State Government.
  • Applicant must not be a recipient of other similar schemes provided by the government.
• Objectives of the scheme are:
  • Empowering women and protecting their health.
  • Reducing the serious health hazards associated with cooking based on fossil fuel.
  • Reducing the number of deaths in India due to unclean cooking fuel.
  • Preventing young children from significant number of acute respiratory illnesses caused due to indoor air pollution by burning the fossil fuel.

ENVIRONMENT & GEOGRAPHY

What is in news : Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts extreme weather events in Indian ocean due to global warming

Details :

• Information was given in IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report, “Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis"
• Indian Ocean is warming at a higher rate than other oceans
• Likely to lead to an increase in annual mean precipitation over India, with more severe rain expected over southern India in the coming decades.
• Port cities of Chennai, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Surat and Visakhapatnam, 28.6 million people would be exposed to coastal flooding if sea levels rise by 50 cm
• Monsoon extremes are likely to increase over India and South Asia, while the frequency of short intense rainy days are expected to rise
• Human activities are causing climate change
• Planet was irrevocably headed towards warming by 1.5 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial times in the next two decades. Keeping global warming below 2 degrees Celsius of pre-industrial levels by the turn of century and endeavouring to limit it to 1.5 degrees Celsius was at the heart of the 2015 Paris Agreement
• Unless extremely deep emission cuts are undertaken by all countries immediately, these goals are unlikely to be met
• Countries must strive to achieve net zero emissions — no additional greenhouse gases are emitted — by 2050
• Glaciers in the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region will keep shrinking and the snow cover will retreat to higher altitudes
• Extreme precipitation is projected to increase in major mountainous regions with potential cascading consequences of floods, landslides and lake outbursts in all scenarios
• Mountain glaciers will continue to shrink and permafrost to thaw in all regions where they are present.

What is in news : The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) issued an order to implement the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) to effectively manage the COVID-19 in Delhi.

About GRAP

• The Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) was devised by a State-Level Expert Committee.
• It was approved in July 2021 during a DDMA meeting chaired by the Lieutenant Governor.
• Delhi government has also introduced four levels of colour-coded alerts. These alerts will kick in when GRAP parameters are met. Four alerts are as follows:
• Level 1 or yellow alert: This alert will come into force when positivity rate is above 0.5% for two consecutive days. It will also be prescribed when cumulative new positive cases for seven days are more than 1,500 cases or when the average occupancy of oxygenated beds is 500 beds for seven days. When this alert is in force, cinema halls, banquets, salons, barbershops, schools, gyms, entertainment parks, and religious places will be shut and night curfew will be imposed.
• Level 2 or amber alert: It will come into force when positivity rate is more than 1% for two days or when cumulative new positive cases are more than 3500 for seven days or when the average occupancy of oxygenated beds is 700 beds for seven days. Under this alert, Restaurants and public parks will be closed and a weekend curfew will come into force.
• Level 3 or orange alert: This alert will be in force when positivity rate is more than 2% for two days or when cumulative new positive cases are more than 9000 for seven days or when the average occupancy of oxygenated beds is 1000 for seven days. Under this, construction activities, shops and malls will be put on hold. Metro will also shut down.
• Level 4 or red alert: It will be issued when positivity rate more than 5% for two days or when cumulative new positive cases for seven days is more than 16,000 or when average occupancy of oxygenated beds is 3000 for seven days. In this case, a total curfew will be imposed.

What is in news : AMOC is getting weaker due to increase in global temperature

What is AMOC :

• Large system of ocean currents
• Atlantic branch of the ocean conveyor belt or Thermohaline circulation (THC), and distributes heat and nutrients throughout the world’s ocean basins
• Carries warm surface waters from the tropics towards the Northern Hemisphere, where it cools and sinks
• Returns to the tropics and then to the South Atlantic as a bottom current
• From there it is distributed to all ocean basins via the Antarctic circumpolar current

Has it been weakened before : AMOC and THC strength has always been fluctuating, mainly if you look at the late Pleistocene time period (last 1 million years). The extreme glacial stages have seen weaker circulation and slowdown in AMOC, while the glacial terminations have shown a stronger AMOC and circulation

What are the implications :

• Gulf Stream in Europe will be very cold
• Cool the northern hemisphere
• Decrease rainfall over Europe
• Prominent cooling over the northern North Atlantic and neighbouring areas, sea ice increases over the Greenland-Iceland-Norwegian seas and to the south of Greenland  Significant southward rain-belt migration over the tropical Atlantic

HISTORY-ART-CULTURE

What is in news : Remembrance day of Quit India celebrated

About :

• Launch - August 8 and 9, 1942
• Why - A peaceful non-violent movement aimed at urging the British to grant India independence.
• Venue - Mumbai’s Gowalia Tank Maidan (also known as August Kranti Maidan)
• By - Mahatma Gandhi
• Gave the slogans ‘Quit India’ or ‘Bharat Chodo’. Gandhi gave the slogan to the people – ‘Do or die’
• Quit India resolution of Congress -
  • An immediate end to British rule over India.
  • Declaration of the commitment of free India to defend itself against all kinds of imperialism and fascism.
  • Formation of a provisional government of India after British withdrawal.
  • Sanctioning a civil disobedience movement against British rule.
• Gandhi’s instructions to various sections of the public:
  • Government servants: do not resign your job but proclaim loyalty to the INC.
  • Soldiers: be with the army but refrain from firing on compatriots.
  • Peasants: pay the agreed-upon rent if the landlords/Zamindars are anti-government; if they are pro-government, do not pay the rent.
  • Students: can leave studies if they are confident enough.
  • Princes: support the people and accept the sovereignty of them.
  • People of the princely states: support the ruler only if he is anti-government; declare themselves as
• Significance -
  • Despite heavy-handed suppression by the government, the people were unfazed and continued their struggle.
  • Even though the government said that independence could be granted only after the end of the war, the movement drove home the point that India could not be governed without the support of the Indians.
  • The movement placed the demand for complete independence at the top agenda of the freedom movement.
  • Public morale and anti-British sentiment were enhanced.

SNIPPETS

• The Ministry has started an awareness campaign “Jaan Hai To Jahaan Hai” on Covid-19 Vaccination to prevent apprehensions and rumors.
• Indian scientists have developed a composite paper made of carbon (graphene oxide) loaded with preservatives that can be used as wrappers to help extend shelf life of fruits. Unlike the present preservative dipping technology, where the preservatives are adsorbed by the fruit, causing chronic toxicity to the consumers; here preservatives the wrapper releases the preservative only when needed. The wrapper can be reused, which is not possible with the present technology.
• Department of Posts is conducting a drawing competition for children aged between six to 15. Key Points Drawing contest is being conducted for designing special covers under the theme ‘COVID-19 vaccination’.
• Delhi’s first “Animal DNA Laboratory” was set up at Forensic Science Laboratory in Rohini.

• Ground that remains completely frozen—32°F (0°C) or colder—for at least two years straight
• Most common in regions with high mountains and in Earth’s higher latitudes—near the North and South Poles
• Almost a quarter of the land area in the Northern Hemisphere has permafrost underneath
• Although the ground is frozen, permafrost regions are not always covered in snow
• Part of Hindu-Kush high altitude regions too consist of Permafrost