Daily CURRENT AFFAIRS

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

The performance of Centre’s Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Scheme in the states has not been up to the mark, the Committee on Empowerment of Women has said in its latest report 

ABOUT THE SCHEME

• Launched in January, 2015
• Aimed at promoting gender equality and the significance of educating girls
• Targeted at improving the Child Sex Ratio through multi sectoral interventions including prevention of gender biased sex selection and promoting girls’ education and her holistic empowerment.
• Tri-ministerial effort of Ministries of Women and Child Development, Health & Family Welfare and Human Resource Development.

More than One Lakh pensioners are currently being serviced by Principal Controller of Communication Accounts/ Controller of Communication Accounts offices all over India via SAMPANN

ABOUT THE PROJECT

• SAMPANN – ‘System for Accounting and Management of Pension’
• Implemented by Controller General of Communication Accounts, Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications
• Launched on 29th December, 2018
• Seamless online pension processing and payment system for Department of Telecommunications pensioners
• Provides direct credit of pension into the bank accounts of pensioners

India’s retail inflation  accelerated in Nov. to 5.1%

ABOUT RETAIL INFLATION

• Retail Inflation, refers to the rate of inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI)
• CPI
  • Is an index that tracks the daily consumption of households and the change in the price of the goods and services these households spend on.
  • Also known as the market basket and this basket includes a fixed list of items which include food, clothing, housing, transportation, electronics, education, medical care etc.
  • Done so as to compare and calculate the changes in the prices which in turn gives us an idea of the retail inflation levels in the economy.
  • Computes the inflation or the deflation based on the consumers day to day living expenses.
  • Is a macroeconomic indicator used by the government itself and several government agencies and especially the Reserve Bank of India(RBI) pay very close attention to the retail Inflation as based on the inflation levels or deflation they can take the necessary steps and produce policies to maintain price stability within the economy.
• In India the retail inflation is calculated by the following CPI’s:
  • CPI for Industrial Workers (IW)
  • CPI for Agricultural Labourers (AL)
  • CPI for Rural Labourers (RL)
  • CPI for Urban Non-Manual Employees (UNME)
• The Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation collects date and compiles it from the CPI for Urban Non-Manual Employees (UNME). The CPI for Industrial Workers (IW), Agricultural Labourers (AL) and Rural Labourers (RL) are collected by the Ministry of Labour.

H5N1  influenza outbreak reported in Kerala

ABOUT

• Avian Influenza, also known as the Avian or Bird Flu, is a form of influenza caused by a virus found in birds.
• Following strains are known to infect humans:
  • H5N1
  • H7N3
  • H797
  • H9N2
• Strains like the H10N8 and H10N3 also have been found to infect humans.
• H5N1 virus 
  • Causes a highly infectious, severe respiratory disease in birds
  • Human cases occur occasionally, but it is difficult to transmit the infection from person to person.
  • When people do become infected, the mortality rate is about 60%.
  • Highly contagious viral disease affecting several species of food-producing birds (chickens, turkeys, quails, guinea fowl, etc.), as well as pet birds and wild birds.
  • Influenza A viruses are classified into subtypes based on two surface proteins, Hemagglutinin (HA) and Neuraminidase (NA).
  • Symptoms in humans - mild upper respiratory tract infection (fever and cough), early sputum production and rapid progression to severe pneumonia. It can lead to sepsis with shock, acute respiratory distress syndrome and even death.
  • Prevention: Strict biosecurity measures and good hygiene are essential in protecting against disease outbreaks.

The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) virtually launched “Certification Course on Home Energy Audit (HEA)”

ABOUT

• A Home Energy Audit (HEA)
• Enables appropriate accounting, quantification, verification, monitoring, and analysis of energy use of various energy-consuming equipment and appliances in a house
• Submission of a technical report with feasible solutions and recommendations for improving energy efficiency, with a cost-benefit analysis and action plan to reduce energy consumption.
• Ultimately lead to a reduction in energy bills and the carbon footprint of the consumer.

The certification program will create awareness on importance and benefits of energy audit and energy efficiency and conservation among students from engineering/diploma colleges. This will increase employability of youth in the domain of energy efficiency, climate change mitigation, and sustainability.

The Certification Course would enable:

• Creation of a pool of professionals to perform home energy audits based on the needs of the consumer (s);
• Domestic consumers to get Home Energy Audit carried out through respective SDA Certified Home Energy Auditor(s);
• Dissemination of information and raising awareness among engineering/diploma/ITI students, energy professionals, and industry partners about the importance and benefits of energy auditing, energy efficiency, and conservation.

Energy Management Centre, Kerala has been identified as Mentor SDA for the initiative. Other 11 SDAs namely Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Daman & Diu, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Sikkim, and Telangana have expressed their willingness to run the Certification Course on HEA for respective stakeholders in their states. On successful completion of the certification course, SDA will offer the certificate to qualifying students/personnel.

PM pays tributes to C. Rajagopalachari on his Jayanti

ABOUT

• Popularly known Rajaji
• Born on December 10 in 1878  in Thorapalli village of Krishnagiri district, Tamil Nadu.
• Obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree from Central College, Bangalore and law from Presidency College, Madras
• Formed the Tamil Scientific Terms Society In 1916, an organisation that translated scientific terms of chemistry, physics, mathematics, astronomy and biology into simple Tamil words
• Joined the Indian National Congress and acted as a legal advisor
• Defended Indian Independence activist, P. Varadarajulu Naidu against charges of sedition in 1917.
• Participated in Gandhi’s Non-Cooperation Movement
• Jailed for two years in Vellore in 1920.
• Opened ashram to promote Gandhi’s principles of Hindu-Muslim harmony and the abolition of untouchability.
• Did Salt Styagraha at Vedaranyam, near Nagapattinam in the then Madras Presidency and broke the salt law.
• First Governor General of India
• Presided over first Conference of Governors was held at Rashtrapati Bhavan in 1949
• Functioned as the Prime Minister of Madras in preindipendent India
• Was Governor of West Bengal for a while
• Was Union Home Minister after Sardar Patel's death
• Became the Chief Minister of Madras
• First one who received India's highest civilian award the Bharat Ratna
• Became the Editor of Mahamta Gandhi's newspaper, Young India
• Wrote a Tamil translation of the Ramayan, which was later published as Chakravarthi Thirumagan(The book won the Sahitya Akademi Award in Tamil language in the year 1958)
• Founded the Swatantra Party in 1959, which favoured classical liberal principles and free enterprise.It emerged as the biggest opposition party in India by 1967.It stood for the protection of the individual citizen against the increasing trespasses of the State. Issued the Temple Entry Authorization and Indemnity Act, under which Dalits and Shanars were allowed to enter temples
• Coined the expression “Permit-Licence Raj” to describe a dispensation more intrusively tyrannical than the one it had replaced: the British Raj. After the infamous 1955 Avadi session of the Congress party, the government of the day adopted “industrial licensing” as its stated policy.

U.S. President Joe Biden kicked off Summit for Democracy, calling on countries to make “concrete commitments” to reaffirm their democratic values.

ABOUT

• Held around three themes:
  • Defending against authoritarianism,
  • Fighting corruption,
  • Promoting respect for human rights.
• Will gather together Heads of State, civil society, philanthropy, and the private sector.
• Seen as one way to counter growing Chinese influence.
• A second summit which will be in-person, will follow in 2022.

The National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS), Government of India in association with Data Security Council of India (DSCI), as a Knowledge Partner, organized Seminar on “Securing Cyberspace in the Contemporary Threat Environment” for delegates from Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)Member States. dia assumed the Chairmanship of Council of Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure of SCO(RATS SCO) recently

ABOUT RATS SCO

Was established in 2004 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan by the member states to combat terrorism, separatism and extremism.

Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is the permanent body of the SCO RATS based in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. India is prsesnt chair

Functions:

• Maintaining working relations with competent institutions of the member states and international organisations tackling issues of fighting terrorism, separatism and extremism;
• Assistance in interaction among the member states in preparation and staging of counter-terrorism exercises at the request of concerned member states, preparation and conduct of search operations and other activities in the field of fighting terrorism, separatism and extremism;
• Joint drafting of international legal documents concerning the fight against terrorism, separatism and extremism;
• Gathering and analysis of information coming to the RATS from the member states, formation and filling of RATS data bank;
• Joint formation of a system of effective response to global challenges and threats
• Preparation and holding of scientific conferences and workshops, assistance in sharing experience in the field of fighting terrorism, separatism and extremism.
• Between 2011 and 2015, under RATS coordination, the authorities of SCO member States managed to prevent 20 terrorist attacks while still in the planning stages, averted 650 crimes of terrorist and extremist nature, and neutralized 440 terrorist training camps and 1,700 members of international terrorist organizations

• The BMTC, in collaboration with the Building and Construction Workers Welfare Board, is issuing Sahayahasta bus passes, which can be used for free travel, to construction workers registered with the board.
• With 94.57% of the 4.89 crore eligible population in the State having been jabbed with the first dose till Thursday, Karnataka has moved up to the first position among larger States in terms of first dose vaccination.Karnataka, which stood in the third position in first dose administration till a week ago, is now followed by Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh where 94.46% and 93.83% of the target population has been covered with one dose, according to data from CoWIN.
• To ease tax burden on industries and encourage entrepreneurs to set up units, the State Cabinet on Thursday decided to create a separate slab of property tax to be levied on industries/industrial areas developed by KIADB and KSSIDC falling under urban local bodies (ULBs) This will be done by bringing in amendments to the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, 1976, and the Karnataka Municipalities Act, 1964
• PM congratulates H. E. Olaf Scholz on being elected as Federal Chancellor of Germany
• Ahmedabad-based Balkrishna Doshi will receive the Royal Gold Medal 2022 by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), the world’s highest honour for architecture.