Daily CURRENT AFFAIRS

Daily Current Affair - UPSC/KAS Exams - 9th April 2022

NEWS

South Western Railway on Friday introduced the first MEMU train service between Bengaluru and Tumakuru

MEMU TRAINS

• On Indian Railways, the MEMUs are electric multiple unit (EMU) trains that serve short and medium-distance routes in India, as compared to normal EMU trains that connect urban and suburban areas. The acronym stands for "Mainline Electric Multiple Unit"
• In the 1990s Indian Railways' built MEMUs that had 10 ft 8 in (3,250 mm) wide coaches
• The service started on Asansol – Adra section on 15 July 1995 and on Kharagpur – Tata section on 22 July 1995.
• The first 20 coach MEMU ran between Surat to Virar in 2017. In 2018, Integral Coach Factory (ICF) launched new MEMU capable to operate at 110–130 km/h (68–81 mph)
• IR is progressively replacing all locomotive-hauled slow and fast passenger and intercity trains with EMUs. The upgraded trains are re-branded as MEMUs

NEWS

Cabinet approves extension of Atal Innovation Mission till March 2023

ATAL INNOVATION MISSION

• Announced in 2015 under the NITI Aayog
• Key goal was to create and promote an ecosystem of innovation and entrepreneurship across the country
• Intended to reach out to the key stakeholders at the school, university, research institutions, MSME and industry levels and involve them in this process

AIM

• Promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in the country
• Mandated to create an umbrella structure to oversee innovation ecosystem of the country and revolutionizing the innovation eco-system – touching upon the entire innovation life cycle through various programs

FUNCTIONS

• Entrepreneurship promotion through Self-Employment and Talent Utilization, wherein innovators would be supported and mentored to become successful entrepreneurs.
• Innovation promotion: to provide a platform where innovative ideas are generated.

NEWS

The Supreme Court upheld amendments introducing restrictions in the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) while holding that no one has a fundamental or absolute right to receive foreign contributions

ABOUT FCRA

• Foreign funding of persons in India is regulated under FCRA Act and is implemented by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• The Act ensures that the recipients of foreign contributions adhere to the stated purpose for which such contribution has been obtained.
• Under the Act, organizations are required to register/renew themselves every five years.
• Registered NGOs can receive foreign contributions for five purposes — social, educational, religious, economic and cultural.

Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Act, 2020

• Prohibition to accept foreign contribution: The Act bars public servants from receiving foreign contributions.
• Transfer of foreign contribution: The Act prohibits the transfer of foreign contribution to any other person not registered to accept foreign contributions.
• Aadhaar for registration: The Act makes Aadhaar number mandatory for all office bearers, directors or key functionaries of a person receiving foreign contribution, as an identification document.
• FCRA account: Foreign contribution must be received only in an account designated by the bank as FCRA account in such branches of the State Bank of India, New Delhi.
• Reduction in use of foreign contribution for administrative purposes: Not more than 20% of the total foreign funds received could be defrayed for administrative expenses. In FCRA 2010 the limit was 50%.
• Surrender of certificate: The Act allows the central government to permit a person to surrender their registration certificate.

NEWS

The Union Cabinet approved a scheme to distribute fortified rice under government programmes

RICE FORTIFICATION

WHAT - addition of key vitamins and minerals to increase the nutritional value of rice.

WHAT IT CONTAINS - Vitamin A, Vitamin B1, Vitamin B12, Folic Acid, Iron and Zinc.

WHAT ARE THE METHODS AVAILABLE –

• Depends on the local technology available, costs and other preferences.
• Can be fortified by adding a micronutrient powder to the rice that adheres to the grains or spraying the surface of ordinary rice grains in several layers with a vitamin and mineral mix to form a protective coating.
• Can also be extruded and shaped into partially pre-cooked grain-like structures resembling rice grains, which can then be blended with natural polished rice.
• Can be fortified with several micronutrients, such as iron, folic acid and other B-complex vitamins, vitamin A and zinc.

NORMS OF FSSAI  : 1 kg fortified rice shall contain iron (28mg-42.5mg), folic acid (75-125 microgram) and Vitamin B-12 (0.75-1.25 microgram). In addition, rice may also be fortified with micronutrients, singly or in combination, at the level– zinc(10mg-15mg), Vitamin A (500-750 microgram RE), Vitamin B1 (1mg-1.5mg), Vitamin B2 (1.25mg-1.75mg), Vitamin B3 (12.5mg-20mg) and Vitamin B6 (1.5mg-2.5mg) per Kg.

NEWS

Punjab government has announced gazetted holiday on the birth anniversary of Guru Nabha Dass, a 16th century saint

GURU NABHA DASS

• BIRTH - April 8, 1537 at village Bhadrachalam on the bank of Godavari river in Khammam district, which falls in the present day Telangana.
• Belonged to Mahasha also known as doom or dumna community, which is one of the Schedule Caste communities.
• Wad raised Two religious gurus — Agar Dass and Keel Dass as he was o orphan
• Followers are called Nabhadassias . They are known for making baskets and grain storage containers with bamboo.
• Ghalta Dham at Jaipur is a main pilgrimage of Nabhadassias,
• Wrote ‘Bhagatmal’ in 1585.
• It has the life history of around 200 saints. He died in 1643.

CONNECTION WITH PUNJAB

• Guru Nabha Dass used to visit village Pandori in Gurdaspur district where people of Doom community live.
• Some gurus of the community also used to live there.

NEWS

Death anniversary of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee observed

ABOUT

• One of the greatest novelists and poets of India
• Born on 27th June 1838 in West Bengal
• Composed the song Vande Mataram in Sanskrit
• Was appointed as Deputy Collector from which he retired in 1891
• Died on 8th April, 1894
• Wrote Novel Anandamath – set in the background of the Sanyasi Rebellion (1770-1820), when Bengal was facing a famine too – made Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay an influential figure on the Bengali renaissance. India got its national song, Vande Mataram, from Anandamath.
• Founded a monthly literary magazine, Bangadarshan, in 1872, through which Bankim is credited with influencing the emergence of a Bengali identity and nationalism.The magazine stopped publication in the late 1880s, but was resurrected in 1901 with Rabindranath Tagore as its editor.
• While it carried Tagore’s writings – including his first full-length novel Chokher Bali – the ‘new’ Bangadarshan retained its original philosophy, nurturing the nationalistic spirit.
• During the Partition of Bengal (1905), the magazine played a vital role in giving an outlet to the voices of protest and dissent. Tagore’s Amar Sonar Bangla – the national anthem of Bangladesh now – was first published in Bangadarshan.
• Famous novels include Kapalkundala (1866), Debi Choudhurani, Bishabriksha (The Poison Tree), Chandrasekhar (1877), Rajmohan’s wife and Krishnakanter Will.

• The Kannada Sahitya Parishat has selected veteran film actor B. Saroja Devi for the Dr. Rajkumar Cultural Award – 2022. The award carries a purse of ₹25,000 and a citation.
• Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has delivered the first civil Dornier-228 aircraft to Alliance Air. The aircraft will be deployed in Arunachal Pradesh to facilitate connectivity with states in the country’s northeast under the Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN) regional connectivity scheme. The 17-seater aircraft is capable of day and night operations.
• India successfully flight tested Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet (SFDR) booster, a missile system, at the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Chandipur off the Odisha coast . The SFDR-based propulsion enables the missile to intercept aerial threats at very long range at supersonic speeds, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said.