Daily CURRENT AFFAIRS

Daily Current Affair - UPSC/KAS Exams - 9th Nov 2021

NEWS

President of India presented the prestigious Padma Awards of the year 2020 to achievers of various fields at a colourful ceremony held at Rashtrapathi Bhavan

WINNERS FROM KARNATAKA

• Harekala Habba of Dakshina Kannada district, an orange seller-social activist, who started a school from his meagre earning
• Vishwesha Theertha Swami of Pejawar Adhokshaja Mutt
• Thulasi Gowda of Halakki community (Uttara Kannada) who planted over one lakh samplings, transport giant Vijay Sankeshwara, Nimhans former director Dr B N Gangadhar, late K V Sampath Kumar and K S Jayalakshmi, editors of Sanskrit newspaper Sudharma of Mysuru

ABOUT PADMA AWARDS

Padma Awards

• Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri
• Given for exceptional and distinguished service in any field including service rendered by Government servants.
• Instituted in the year 1954. 
• Announced on the eve of the Republic Day every
• Government servants including those working with PSUs, except doctors and scientists, are not eligible
• Conferred on the recommendations made by the Padma Awards Committee, which is constituted by the Prime Minister every year
• Nomination process is open to the public. Even self-nomination can be made.

KARNATAKA MINOR MINERALS CONCESSIONS RULES, 2021

NEWS

The State Cabinet approved the Karnataka Minor Minerals Concessions Rules, 2021

WHAT DOES THE RULES SAY

• Fixed the price of sand at ₹300 per tonne at the gram panchayat (GP) level.
• Price of sand extracted from riverbeds and streams and sold in urban areas/towns/cities has been fixed at ₹700 per tonne.
• 25% of the royalty from the sale of sand will have to be provided to the GP concerned through an appropriate Budget provision
• In coastal regulation zone (CRZ) areas of coastal districts, Government has permitted the extraction of sand using traditional practices and has banned the use of machinery.
• Sand extracted from local streams, tanks, and lakes will be permitted to be utilised for local community works, low-housing construction works, or government works.
• Sand for government construction works will be sold at concessional rates
• Extraction of sand from ‘patta’ lands has been banned.
• Only a district sand committee will take a decision on granting permission to extract sand from such land.
• A person who holds a licence for extraction and stocking of sand should establish an office, computer facility, close-circuit television cameras, weighing bridge, and security at the dumpyard or stockyard.
• The sand extracted from streams or rivers can be transported anywhere in the State.
• The period of extraction will be five years or exhaustion of the permitted quantity, whichever is earlier, the rules specify.

FORMATION OF COMMITTEES

DISTRICT SAND COMMITTEE

• Headed by the Deputy Commissioner
• 11-members
• Include the ZP CEO, the SP, officials of the Water Resources, the PWD, the Forest, and other departments.
• Meet once in two months
• Take decisions on granting lease or working permission for quarrying of sand or removal of silt, inspection of sand-bearing areas of dams, reservoirs or barrages, and reserve the sand block for Central or State Government development works.
• Has powers to set up an independent panel of experts to assess the damage to environment owing to illegal mining and sand extraction.
• Empowered to establish check posts for regulating the transport of sand and to control the its illegal transport. The committee will also punish violations of norms by permit holders.

TALUK SAND MONITORING COMMITTEE

• Headed by the Assistant Commissioner and other department members
• Meet once a month
• Take decisions on allocation of areas for sand extraction in taluks.
• Permit or lease holders have to pay 10% of the royalty to the District Mineral Foundation Trust and the fund will be used for rehabilitation and reclamation or any other environmental safeguards.

NOTE : A committee headed by the Chief Secretary and other government officials would monitor the policy at the State level.

NEWS

Mumbai-Karnataka region rechristened as Kittur Karnataka. The name Kittur comes after a historical taluk in Belagavi district in north Karnataka that was ruled by Rani Chennamma

RANI CHENNAMMA

• Indian queen of Kittur.
• Kittur was a princely state in Karnataka
• Fought against the British East India company against the Doctrine of Lapse in 1824. Defeated the Britishers. However, she died in the imprisonment of second rebellion by the company.
• One of the first female rulers to fight against the Britishers
• Became the symbol of independence movement in India.
• Born in Kakati (village is now located in Belgavi district) in 1778.
• Her husband and son died in 1824
• Adopted Shivalingappa in 1824 and made him the heir to the throne and ruled in his name
• Vctory of Rani Chennamma is celebrated during the Kittur Utsav till date, in October

SWARNAJAYANTI FELLOWSHIPS

NEWS

Three Bengaluru scientists have been awarded Swarnajayanti fellowships for their innovative research ideas and their potential to create an impact on research and development in different disciplines.

ABOUT THE FELLOWSHIP

• Instituted by the Government of India
• To commemorate India’s 50th year of Independence.
• Awardees are facilitated by the Department of Science and Technology (DST)
• With support for all requirements for performing research, including a fellowship of Rs 25,000 per month for five years
• DST supports the awardees by giving them a research grant of Rs 5 lakh for five years. Provided in addition to the salary they draw from their parent institutions.
• Grants for equipment, computational facilities, consumables, contingencies, national and international travel and other special requirements are covered based on merit,
• Scientists selected for the award will be allowed to pursue unfettered research with freedom and flexibility in terms of expenditure as approved in the research plan.
• The scientists with proven track record and selected through a rigorous three-layered screening process will pursue basic research in frontier areas of science and technology

NEWS

The Election Commission has noted that the 22 Biju Janata Dal MLAs who were appointed as chairpersons of various district planning committees and special development councils do not attract disqualification for holding an office of profit.

OFFICE OF PROFIT

• If an MLA or an MP holds a government office and receives benefits from it, then that office is termed as an “office of profit”.
• A person will be disqualified if he holds an office of profit under the central or state government, other than an office declared not to disqualify its holder by a law passed by Parliament or state legislature.
• Criteria to disqualify
  • Basic disqualification criteria for an MP are laid down in Article 102 of the Constitution, and for an MLA in Article 191.
  • They can be disqualified for:
    • Holding an office of profit under government of India or state government;
    • Being of unsound mind;
    • Being an undischarged insolvent;
    • Not being an Indian citizen or for acquiring citizenship of another country

NEWS

UK drug regulator announced that it has approved the first oral antiviral for treatment of Covid-19. The drug, molnupiravir, has been developed by Merck and Ridgeback

ABOUT

• Developed initially to treat influenza
• Has been repurposed to treat Covid patients
• Interferes with the replication of SARS-CoV-2, thereby reducing severity of disease.
• Most effective when used early
• UK has recommended its use as soon as possible following a positive test and within five days of symptoms onset.

NEWS

CBI filed two chargesheets against serving and retired naval officers, and some others, for allegedly sharing details of the ongoing modernisation project of India’s Kilo Class submarines

How many submarines does India have:

• Currently, India has 15 conventional diesel-electric submarines, classified as SSKs, and one nuclear ballistic submarine, classified as SSBN.
• Of the SSKs, four are Shishumar Class, which were bought and then built in India in collaboration with the Germans starting 1980s; eight are Kilo Class or Sindhughosh Class bought from Russia (including erstwhile USSR) between 1984 and 2000; and three are Kalvari Class Scorpene submarines built at India’s Mazagon Dock in partnership with France’s Naval Group, earlier called DCNS.
• The SSBN, INS Arihant, is a nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine, built indigenously. A second SSBN, INS Arighat, an upgraded version of Arihant, is likely to be commissioned within the next few months.
• Most of India’s submarines are over 25 years old, and many are getting refitted.

DELAY IN MODERNIZATION

• The 30-year plan (2000-30) for indigenous submarine construction, approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security in 1999, envisaged two production lines of six submarines each, built in India in partnership with a foreign Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). The projects were called P-75 and P-75I.
• The plan anticipated that India would get the 12 new submarines by 2012-15. Subsequently, India would make 12 of its own by 2030, taking the fleet size to 24, with the older submarines getting decommissioned.
• Intention was that India would maintain a force level of 18 to 20 submarines at any given time.
• But the contract for P-75 was signed only by 2005, with France’s DCNS, now the Naval Group.

CURRENT PROJECTS UNDERWAY

Of the six being built, P-75 has delivered three Kalvari Class Scorpene submarines so far. P-75I is yet to take off; the first Request for Information was issued in 2008, then again in 2010, and the Request for Proposal was finally issued in July this year. The project will be India’s first under the Strategic Partnership Model, which came up in 2015. The government will give the contract to an Indian Strategic Partner, which will then partner with a foreign OEM.

Why are nuclear submarines so coveted

SSNs

• Have infinite capacity to stay dived. As they are not propelled by batteries, they need not emerge for charging by a diesel engine. Propelled by a nuclear-powered engine, these submarines only need to come to the surface for replenishing supplies for the crew.
• Are also able to move faster underwater than conventional submarines. All this allows a navy to deploy them at farther distances, and quicker. They are like the fighter jets of the underwater world.

• India got its first SSN in 1987 from the Soviet Navy, which it rechristened INS Chakra, which was decommissioned in 1991. In 2012, India got another Russian SSN on a ten-year lease, called INS Chakra 2, which has since been returned to Russia.
• The government has also decided that of the 12 submarines to be built indigenously after the P75 and P75i projects, six would be SSNs instead of SSK.
• India is taking two SSNs on lease from Russia, but the first of them is expected to be delivered only by 2025.
• India is building at least two larger SSBNs that will have bigger missiles, called S4 and S4* projects. The four SSBNs are expected to be commissioned before 2030

NEWS

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has picked Srinagar among 49 cities as part of the creative city network under the Crafts and Folk Arts category.

ABOUT UCCN

• Created in 2004 to promote cooperation with and among cities that have identified creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable urban development.
• Objective: placing creativity and cultural industries at the heart of their development plans at the local level and cooperating actively at the international level.
• The Network covers seven creative fields: Crafts and Folk Arts, Media Arts, Film, Design, Gastronomy, Literature and Music.
• Joining the Network, cities commit to sharing their best practices and developing partnerships involving the public and private sectors as well as civil society in order to:
• Strengthen the creation, production, distribution and dissemination of cultural activities, goods and services;
• Develop hubs of creativity and innovation and broaden opportunities for creators and professionals in the cultural sector;
• Improve access to and participation in cultural life, in particular for marginalized or vulnerable groups and individuals;
• Fully integrate culture and creativity into sustainable development plans.

PREVIOUS CITIES

• Jaipur-Crafts and Folk Arts(2015).
• Varanasi-Creative city of Music (2015).
• Chennai-Creative city of Music(2017).
• Mumbai – Film (2019).
• Hyderabad – Gastronomy (2019).

• To safeguard interest of consumers, the Department of Consumer Affairs under Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution has omitted the Rule 5 of the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities), Rules 2011 defining the Schedule II prescribing the pack sizes of various types of commodities. A new provision has been introduced to indicate the unit sale price on pre packed commodities, which will allow easier comparison of the prices of the commodities at the time of purchase.
• The International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) employed military-approved artificial intelligence voice analysis and cyber technology systems to analyse judges and referees at the recently-concluded men’s World Championships in Belgrade.