Daily CURRENT AFFAIRS

Daily Current Affair - UPSC/KAS Exams - 8th September 2021

What :

• Nationwide survey
• Rural education and learning outcomes in terms of reading and arithmetic skills
• Conducted by - NGO Pratham (last 15 years)
• Uses Census 2011
• Important national source of information about children’s foundational skills across the country

What report said on Karnataka :

• Huge drop in learning levels in both reading and numeracy, especially for primary classes

• Decline in foundational skills is visible throughout the elementary grades, among students enrolled in government and as well as private school
• 56.8% of class I students surveyed could not read letters
• In comparison, the 2018 report stated that 40% of class I students were unable to read letters. This is a drop of over 16 percentage points
• In the 2021 survey, 66% of the class VIII students were able to read a standard II text, compared to 70% in 2018.
• Only 9.8% of the class III students were able to read a standard II level text. In 2018, however, 19.2% of the students in the same category were able to read a class II level text.
• There is a similar drop in learning level in reading skills in class V as well as class VIII.
• The decline in learning levels is steeper in the arithmetic skills of the students. Nearly half, 42.6% of students in class I, were unable to recognise numbers one to nine.
• The number of students who were unable to recognise numbers in class I in 2018 was far lower with only 29.7% of them being unable to do so.
• Only 17.3 % of the class III students were able to do subtraction while in 2018, it was as high as 26.3%. Similarly, only 38.9% of the class VIII students this year could do division.

ENVIRONMENT & GEOGRAPHY

What is in news : Government of Tamil Nadu recently announced its plan to set up India’s first Dugong Conservation Reserve in the Palk Bay on the southeast coast.

About DUGONG

• Mammals ( give birth to live young and then produce milk and nurse them )
• Flagship animal of Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park.
• Females give birth underwater to a single calf at three to seven-year intervals.
• Graze on seagrass (  up to 40 kilograms in a day )
• IUCN - Endangered marine species
• Schedule I of the Wild (Life) Protection Act, 1972.
• Threats -
  • Human activities ( destruction and modification of habitat, pollution, rampant illegal fishing activities, vessel strikes, unsustainable hunting or poaching and unplanned tourism )
  • The loss of seagrass beds due to ocean floor trawling
• Why needs urgent attention :
  • There were just 250 dugongs in the Gulf of Mannar in Tamil Nadu, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the Gulf of Kutch in Gujarat according to the 2013 survey report of the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI).
  • Extinct in Odisha, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh coasts
  • Seagrass in Odisha’s Chilika Lake is a proper, However, there is not an extant population in Chilika.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

What is in news : Delhi sees rise in Dengue cases

MAHITI FOR PRELIMS

DENGUE

• Transmitted by several species of mosquitoes within the genus Aedes.
• Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle, and joint pain, and a characteristic skin rash that is similar to measles.
• Four types of dengue strains, and type II and IV are considered to be more severe and normally require hospitalisation.
• Aedes mosquito breeds in clean stagnant water.

What are the other diseases to look out for during rainy season : Malaria, Chikungunya , Viral fever , Dengue

What is in news : The Varanasi-Chunar Cruise service that started recently, added a new dimension to the tourism facilities in Varanasi.

Details :

• Service is in Ganga River
• Run from Varanasi to historic Chunar fort in Mirzapur
• 30 km
• Tourists can now enjoy the day-long luxury cruise ride in the morning from Ravidas ghat.

MAHITI FOR PRELIMS

The Chunar Fort

• Mirzapur district , Uttar Pradesh
• Town is situated below the fort
• South-eastern part of the fort touches the rocky bank of the Ganges River
• The history span of the fort is from 56 BC and between Afghan decedent Sher Shah Suri’s rule, the Mughal Empire rule, as well as the Maratha rule in 1782 to 1804
• British Raj occupied this fort till 1947 when India gained independence.

Sant Ravidas Ghat

• Ravidas ghat is the southernmost and largest ghat in Varanasi
• It is known for an important religious place Ravidasis comprising of a 25 acres park known as Sant Ravidas Smarak Park

INSPIRATION4

What : First all-civilian, non-governmental spaceflight

By : SpaceX

Details :

• Part of an effort to raise millions for the Tennessee-based St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, a paediatric treatment and research facility that focuses on children's catastrophic diseases, particularly leukaemia and other cancers.
• Involves circling the Earth for three days, and then splashing down into the Atlantic Ocean.
• Will orbit the Earth at 575km, higher than the International Space Station (408km) and the Hubble space telescope (547km)
• This will be the farthest distance travelled by a crewed mission since 2009, when astronauts last went to repair the Hubble.
• The Dragon module that the group will be using has also been modified for the mission. Usually, the SpaceX module is used for travelling to the ISS, where it has to dock or join the floating laboratory. Since Inspiration4 is not going to the ISS, the docking port has been removed and has been replaced with a dome window instead, the report said.
• This dome window will offer breath-taking views of the Earth for the four travellers. The window has been inspired by the Cupola, a module on the ISS used to make observations about our planet.

Significance :

• Journey will present an opportunity for collecting large amounts of health data that will aid in planning future crewed space missions.
• Will collect data on ECG (electrocardiograph) activity, movement, sleep, heart rate and rhythm, blood oxygen saturation, cabin noise and light intensity, which will help in assessing behavioural and cognitive changes over the journey.
• Travellers will undergo balance and prescription tests just before and after their journey to assess their response to the change in gravity. Immune system function will also be monitored by collecting blood. Their organ systems will also be monitored by an AI-powered ultrasound device

HISTORY – ART - CULTURE

What is in news : Parkash Purab of Guru Granth Sahib celebrated

Significance : The occasion marks the completion of the holy book of Sikhs, Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, under the supervision of the fifth Guru Arjan Dev ji in 1604 at Gurdwara Ramsar Sahib.

About Guru Granth Sahib

• It is the religious scripture of Sikhism. According to the Sikhs, it is the final, sovereign and eternal guru.
• The first rendition of Guru Granth Sahib is called the Adi Granth. It was compiled by the fifth guru Arjan Dev. He completed the Adi Granth in 1604 and installed it inside the Golden temple in Amritsar.
• Later Guru Har Gobind Singh added Ramkali Ki Vaar. Finally, Guru Gobind Singh added the hymns composed by Guru Tegh Bahadyr. Guru Gobind Singh was the tenth guru of the Sikhs.

What is in news : Every year September 5th is celebrated worldwide as International day of charity in remembrance of Mother Theresa

About Mother Theresa

• Born on August 26, 1910
• Came to India in 1929 and worked for the welfare of the poorest of the poor as well as the homeless, orphan children and people dying from terminal illness such as HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis.
• Original name was Anjeze Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, was an Albanian-Indian Roman Catholic nun and missionary. 
• Born in Skopje (current capital of North Macedonia), then part of the Kosovo Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire
• Devoted most of her life working for poor and downtrodden.
• Founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950 to help the poorest among the poor. The charity took in an increasing number of homeless children
• Opened a hospital for those with leprosy, calling it Shanti Nagar (City of Peace) and also established leprosy-outreach clinics throughout Calcutta through Missionaries of Charity
• Also opened Nirmala Shishu Bhavan, the Children's Home of the Immaculate Heart, as a haven for orphans and homeless youth
• Recipient of more than 120 honours and awards during her lifetime including the Ramon Magsaysay Peace Prize in 1962 and Nobel Peace Prize in 1979
• Passed away on September 5, 1997

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

What is in news : Bangladeshi scientist, Dr Firdausi Qadri, won the Ramon Magsaysay Award.

About :

• Dr Qadri is an emeritus scientist at the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b).
• She is also a laureate of the 2020 L’Oréal-Unesco for Women in Science Award which was presented to her for her advocacy of early diagnoses and global vaccination & her work on understanding and preventing infectious diseases affecting children across developing countries.
• She decided early on to pursue a career in medical research. She joined icddr,b in 1988 to focus her research on communicable diseases, immunology, vaccine development and clinical trials.
• Dr Qadri played a key role in development of a more affordable oral cholera vaccine (OCV) as well as typhoid conjugate vaccine (ViTCV) for infants, children and adults.

Other Winners

• Muhammad Amjad Saqib: A visionary who founded one of the largest microfinance institutions in Pakistan, servicing millions of families.
• Steven Muncy: A humanitarian who has been helping the displaced refugees of Southeast Asia rebuild their lives.
• WatchDoc: A production house that ingeniously combines documentary filmmaking and alternative platforms to highlight underreported issues in Indonesia.
• Roberto Ballon: A fisherman from Southern Philippines who has led a community in restoring their rich aquatic resources and their primary source of livelihood.

About Ramson Magsaysay Award

• The Ramon Magsaysay Award is Asia’s highest honor and is widely regarded as the region’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize.
• It celebrates the memory and leadership example of the third Philippine president after whom the award is named, and is given every year to individuals or organizations in Asia who manifest the same selfless service that ruled the life of the late and beloved Filipino leader.

SPORTS

Who : 1^st IAS Officer to win Paralympics Medal

Details :

• Computer engineer
• District magistrate of Noida since 2020
• Lost gold to top seed Lucas Mazur of France in the men’s singles SL4 class final at the Tokyo Paralympics
• Has an impairment in one of his ankles.
• In 2017, he has won gold medals at BWF Turkish Para badminton championship in men’s singles as well as in men’s doubles.
• In 2016, he won gold at Asia championships while in 2018, he won bronze in Asian Para Games.

• Union government launched 'BujurgonkiBaat–DeshKeSaath' campaign. The programme 'BujurgonkiBaat–DeshKeSaath’ aims at enhancing the interaction between the youth and the elder persons who are 95 years and above and thus have spent around 18 years in India before independence.
• Indian Navy Task Group comprising IN Ships Shivalik and Kadmatt, under the Command of Flag Officer Commanding, Eastern Fleet, Rear Admiral Tarun Sobti, VSM is participating in the 4th edition of AUSINDEX from 06 to 10 Sep 21.