Current Affairs | National | International | SSC | UPSC -8th March 2024

 

1.New Insurance Package For Indian Blue-Collar Workers In UAE 

• The Indian Consulate in Dubai has introduced a new insurance package called the Life Protection Plan (LPP) for Indian blue-collar workers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). 
• This plan aims to provide financial benefits to the families of the workers in case of natural or accidental deaths. 
• The Life Protection Plan (LPP) for blue-collar workers and other employees, covering death due to any cause – natural or accidental, became effective from March 1, 2023. 

2.Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar Opens 2 STPI Centers In Thiruvananthapuram & Kochi 

• At the 4th Semicon India FutureDesign Roadshow in Kerala, Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar facilitated a significant Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between IBM and C-DAC. 
• This partnership aims to propel India’s processor design and manufacturing capabilities for High-Performance Computing (HPC), marking a pivotal moment in India’s technological advancement. 
• In a bid to bolster Kerala’s electronics, IT sector, and startup ecosystem, Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar inaugurated new Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) centers in Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi.

3.Bengaluru To Get India’s First Driverless Metro Train 

• The Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) has received the first set of six train coaches for its upcoming driverless metro line, called the Yellow Line. 
• This 18.8 km-long line, connecting RV Road and Bommasandra, will be the first in India to have a driverless train system. 
• The new metro line will use the Communication-based Train Control (CBTC) system, which is a modern radio communication system that provides timely and accurate train control information. 

4.Mahashivratri 2024 

• Mahashivratri, a celestial festival resonating with spiritual fervor, beckons devotees worldwide to partake in the divine celebration of Lord Shiva, the epitome of cosmic consciousness and eternal bliss.
• As the ethereal night of reverence unfolds on March 08th, 2024, devotees embark on a profound journey of devotion, introspection, and transcendence. 
• Maha Shivaratri holds deep spiritual significance for Hindus, signifying the victory of light over darkness. It is believed that on this day, the spiritual energies of the universe are particularly potent, making it an ideal time for devotees to engage in fasting, meditation, and prayers 

5.Union Cabinet Approved Uttar Poorva Transformative Industrialization Scheme, 2024 

• The Union Cabinet, led by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has sanctioned the Uttar Poorva Transformative Industrialization Scheme, 2024 (UNNATI – 2024). 
• This scheme, spearheaded by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, aims to invigorate industrial development in the North East Region, fostering economic growth and job creation. 
• Total outlay of Rs. 10,037 crore for 10 years, with an additional Rs. 300 crore for implementation and institutional arrangements. 
• The UNNATI scheme aims to spur industrial growth in the North East, fostering socio-economic development and creating a conducive environment for manufacturing and services sectors. 

6.Sweden Joins NATO, Ends Decades Neutral Stance 

• Sweden formally became the 32nd member of NATO after completing its accession process in Washington. This decision comes two years after Sweden’s application, triggered by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, highlighting concerns about regional security. 
• After more than 200 years of neutrality and avoidance of military alliances, Sweden’s decision marks a significant departure. This move signifies a shift towards aligning with NATO’s collective security framework. 

7.NIGEL 

• NLCIL has emerged victorious in securing a 600 MW Solar Power Project tender within the GSECL Khavda Solar Park, initiated by GUVNL through a competitive bidding process. 
• The project’s annual electricity generation capacity is estimated at 1,577.88 Million Units (MU), with a cumulative generation of 39.447 Billion Units (BU) over its lifetime. 
• Moreover, the project is poised to mitigate approximately 35.5 Million Metric Tons of Carbon dioxide emissions throughout its operational lifespan. 

8.Sansad Khel Mahakumbh 3.0 Inaugurated In Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh 

• Union Minister Anurag Singh Thakur grandly inaugurated the Sansad Khel Mahakumbh 3.0 at the Luhnu Cricket Ground in Bilaspur on March 5, 2024. Chief Guests 
• Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma and Indian cricket team coach Rahul Dravid graced the occasion as chief guests. The MP Khel Mahakumbh has become the biggest platform for players from the Hamirpur parliamentary constituency to showcase their talent. 
• In the first edition, 40,000 people participated, while the second edition saw 45,000 participants. The target for the third edition is the participation of 75,000 players. 

9.ISRO Gearing Up For Next Lunar Mission Chandrayaan-4 

• ISRO chief S Somnath informed at the National Space Science Symposium (NSSS 2024) that the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is preparing to launch the next lunar mission Chandrayaan-4. 
• This mission will include five spacecraft modules. The five components of the Chandrayaan-4 lunar mission will be launched in two phases. 
• India’s heaviest launch vehicle, LVM-3, will launch the propulsion, descender, and ascender modules. This will be the first ISRO mission utilizing two launch vehicles for a single mission. 

10.Cabinet Approves IndiaAI Mission With Rs. 10,372 Crore Budget 

• The Indian Cabinet, led by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has greenlit the ambitious IndiaAI mission, allocating a substantial budget of Rs. 10,371.92 crore. 
• This initiative aligns with the vision of bolstering AI innovation within India and leveraging AI for the nation’s advancement. 
• The mission aims to establish a robust AI ecosystem through a strategic public-private partnership approach. AIC will serve as a premier academic institution, facilitating efficient implementation and retention of top research talent. 

11.Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar Introduces ChipIN For India’s Semiconductor Transformation 

• In a significant event held at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Kerala, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, introduces ChipIN Centre, a revolutionary facility poised to transform semiconductor design in India. 
• Offering diverse design flows and cutting-edge tools, ChipIN aims to democratize access to chip design infrastructure nationwide. 
• With a focus on advanced node technologies, the center seeks to empower students, researchers, and industry professionals with the necessary resources to drive innovation. 

12.Center Releases Regulations For Captive Exotic Wildlife 

• India, as a party to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), has recently implemented stringent measures to regulate the possession and trade of exotic pets. 
• The Living Animal Species (Reporting and Registration) Rules, 2024, issued by the Union environment ministry on February 28, aim to enforce the provisions of the Convention and ensure the protection of endangered wildlife. 
• Under these rules, individuals possessing exotic pets such as macaws, cockatoos, or various soft-shell turtles are required to register them with the state wildlife department. 

13.World’s largest literary festival-‘Sahityotsav’ to be held from March 11-16 

• World’s largest literary festival-‘Sahityotsav’ by Sahitya Akademi will be held from the 11th to 16th of March. 
• The festival commemorating 70 years of Sahitya Akademi will witness the participation of more than a hundred renowned writers and scholars. 
• Over 190 sessions and more than 175 languages of the country will also be represented during the festival. 
• The Chief Guest of the Awards Presentation Ceremony will be Pratibha Rai, the distinguished Odia writer.
• The Samvatsar lecture will be delivered by renowned Urdu writer and lyricist Gulzar on the 13th of March at the Meghdoot open theatre. 

14.Panama becomes 97th member of International Solar Alliance 

• Panama has officially become the 97th member of the International Solar Alliance (ISA). 
• This milestone was announced by Randhir Jaiswal, the spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). 
• Moreover, on March 5, Malta became the 119th country to join the International Solar Alliance. 
• The International Solar Alliance (ISA) is an action-oriented, member-driven, collaborative platform for increased deployment of solar energy technologies as a means for bringing energy access, ensuring energy security, and driving energy transition in its member countries. 

About Panama 

• Capital- Panama City 
• Currencies- Panamanian Balboa, United States Dollar 
• Official language- Spanish 
• President- Laurentino Cortizo 
• Continent- North America 

About International Solar Alliance 

• Founded- 30 November 2015 
• Headquarters – Gurugram, Haryana 
• President- R. K. Singh 

15.Manish Prasad appointed president and MD for SAP Indian Subcontinent 

• German technology major SAP has appointed Manish Prasad as president and managing director for SAP Indian Subcontinent. 
• He succeeds Kulmeet Bawa, who takes on a global role to drive the growth and adoption of the SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP) for global customers. 
• Prasad will help advance SAP’s move to the cloud, enabling customers across all industries to digitally transform with SAP. 

Recent Appointment 

• Captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad- Pat Cummins (Australia) 
• CEO of The World Gold Council India – Sachin Jain 
• New Lokpal of country – Justice AM Khanwilkar 
• Director (Operations) of NTPC – Ravindra Kumar 
• Director in Heavy Industries Ministry – Sureshwar Bonal 

16. March – International Women’s Day 

• International Women’s Day is celebrated every year on 8 March. 
• The day is dedicated to highlight women’s accomplishments, rights, equity, empowerment, and other issues. 
• The theme of Women’s Day 2024 is ‘Invest in women: Accelerate Progress’, which emphasizes the importance of creating a world where women feels respected, valued, and empowered. 

17. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched 'Dekho Apna Desh People's Choice' and 'Chalo India Global Diaspora Campaign' in Jammu and Kashmir 

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 7th March 2024 launched the 'Chalo India Global Diaspora Campaign' in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, the first nationwide initiative related to tourism 'Dekho Apna Desh People's Choice' and to motivate NRIs to become ambassadors of Incredible India and promote tourism in India. 
• Prime Minister launched the first nationwide initiative to gauge the pulse of the nation on tourism as 'Dekho Apna Desh People's Choice'. The nationwide survey aims to engage with citizens to identify the most preferred tourist attractions and understand tourist perceptions across 5 tourism categories – Spiritual, Cultural and Heritage, Nature and Wildlife, Adventure and other categories. 
• Apart from the four main categories, the 'Others' category is where one can vote for their personal favorites and highlight hidden tourism gems such as untapped tourist attractions and destinations such as Vibrant Border Villages, Wellness Tourism, Wedding Tourism etc. 
• This voting exercise is being hosted on the MyGov platform, the citizen engagement portal of the Government of India. During this, selected tourist destinations under the Challenge Based Destination Development (CBDD) scheme were also announced. Under this, 42 destinations have been identified in four categories – 16 in Culture and Heritage Destination, 11 in Spiritual Destinations, 10 in Ecotourism and Amrit Dharohar and 5 in Vibrant Village. 

18.'Chalo India Global Diaspora Campaign'

• The Prime Minister launched the 'Chalo India Global Diaspora Campaign' to inspire the Indian diaspora to become ambassadors of Incredible India and promote tourism in India. The campaign requested members of the Indian diaspora to encourage at least 5 non-Indian friends to visit India. 
• With over 3 crore overseas Indians, the Indian diaspora can serve as a powerful catalyst for Indian tourism by acting as cultural ambassadors. 

19.Kerala-owned OTT platform launched 

• Kerala on Thursday launched a governmentowned OTT platform CSpace with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan terming it as a decisive step in the onward journey of Malayalam cinema. 
• Inaugurating CSpace at a function held at the Kairali Theatre here, the Chief Minister termed it a pioneering initiative that would give prominence to films with artistic and cultural value without hurting the mainstream film industry. 
• "Private OTT platforms give prominence to films in the most widely spoken language since their prime motive is to maximize profit. The priority of CSpace, 
• on other hand, is to onboard and stream contents with artistic and cultural values," Mr. Vijayan said. 
• The launch of CSpace also signifies leveraging of cutting-edge technologies, he said. 
• The decision that CSpace will only stream films that are already released in theaters signifies that this is not a move that will harm the interests of the film industry. 
• CSpace will be managed by the Kerala State Film Development Corporation. 
• The platform, which operates on pay per view basis, allows viewers to watch a feature film for ₹75 and shorter contents for much lesser price. 
• Viewers can download CSpace apps from Play Store and App Store. 

20.Troubled waters China should adopt dialogue to resolve disputes with neighbors 

• Tensions between China and the Philippines soared on Tuesday after Manila spoke of China's "reckless and illegal" actions in the South China Sea, blocking its resupply mission. According to the Philippine Coast Guard, its boats were stopped near Second Thomas Shoal, where a group of sailors have been liv- ing on board a warship that was sunk by the Philippine forces 25 years ago to reinforce their sovereignty claims. One of the Philippines's boats suffered "minor structural damage" in the incident, the Coast Guard said. There have been repeated incidents between Chinese and Philippine Coast Guards in the South China Sea. In September last year, Philippine forces removed a 300-meter floating barrier installed by China near the disputed Scarborough Shoal, which triggered a warning from Beijing. In Tuesday's incident, China blamed the Philippines, saying its ships had illegally intruded into the waters around the Shoal. The source of the problem is contesting claims. China claims almost all of the South China Sea. It seized Scarborough Shoal, a triangular reef encircling a resource-rich lagoon, from the Philippines in 2012. Manila got a favourable ruling from the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague over the Shoal but Beijing ignored it. The Philippines sends regular resupplies to Second Thomas Shoal, known as Ren'ai Jiao in China, which lies about 200 km from the Philippine island of Palawan. But in recent months, activities by Chinese vessels around the Shoal have enhanced tensions. 
• What is adding to the tensions is the overall deterioration in ties between the two countries. When China took over the Scarborough Shoal, the Philippines was cautious not to provoke its giant neighbor further. Rodrigo Duterte, the former President, constantly tried to play down tensions, but President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who assumed office in June 2022, took a different approach. He strengthened the Philippines's strategic and defense cooperation with the U.S., angering Beijing. The U.S. now has access to nine Philippine military bases, and last year, Manila hosted its largest military exercise with the U.S. In the long term, Mr. Marcos Jr. wants to bolster the Philippines' defense capabilities and strengthen its strategic standing in the region, while in the short term, he seems ready to stand up to China's coercive moves to protect his country's sovereignty claims. On the other side, China sees the growing U.S.-Philippines ties as a key challenge and has accused Washington of using Manila as a "pawn". But China should realize that its sweeping unilateral claims over the South China sea and coercive steps towards its neighbors are not winning it any friends in the region. Instead, 
• Beijing should opt for benign engagement and dialogue to address the disputes in one of the busiest waters in the world. 

21.Cabinet approves 4% hike in DA for Central government employees and pensioners 

• The Union Cabinet, which met here on Thursday, decided to release an additional installment of Dearness Allowance (DA) to Central government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) to pensioners with effect from January 1. 
• The increase will be four percentage points over the existing rate of 46% of the basic pay/pension, to compensate against price rise, the government said. Other allowances, including house rent allowance, canteen allowance and deputation allowance, will also be increased subsequently. 
• Beneficial for lakhs, Talking to press persons ter the meeting, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said the combined impact 
• The hike will be four percentage points over the existing rate of 46% of the basic pay or pension; the exchequer on account of both DA and DR would be ₹12,868.72 crore per annum. "This will benefit about 49.18 lakh Central government employees and 67.95 lakh pensioners," he said. 
• Mr. Goyal said the increase is in accordance with the accepted formula, based on the recommendations of the Seventh Central Pay Commission. Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, major unions of Central government employees have decided to go on an indefinite strike demanding implementation of the old pension scheme. 
• Employees had also held rallies asking the Centre to address the anomalies in promotions, pension, and salaries. 
• This financial year, the Centre will spend 15,014 crore towards the payment of additional DA. 
• Mr. Goyal added that transport allowance, canteen allowance, and deputation allowance will also be in- creased by 25% 
• House rent allowance has been raised from 27%, 19%, and 9% of the basic pay to 30%, 20%, and 10%, respectively. 
• Benefits under gratuity will also be increased by 25%, with an increased ceiling of ₹25 lakh from the existing ₹20 lakh. For this, the government may have to fund 19,400 crore annually. 

22.5th generation fighter jet project gets CCS approval 

• The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) has approved the project for the design and development of India's fifth-generation fighter jet, Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), to be undertaken by the Defence Research and Development Organisation, defense sources confirmed on Thursday, The AMCA is envisaged as a 25- tonne twin-engine stealth aircraft with an internal weapons bay and diverter less supersonic Intake which has been developed in India for the first time, 
• Hindustan Aeronautics lad., the production agency for the project, has in-Mated activities manufacturing 

23.Cabinet approves 10,372 cr. Al corpus 

• The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved a 10,371.92 crore corpus to fund Artificial Intelligence computing infrastructure and start-ups in the Al space. This corpus would provide viability gap funding, subsidize projects that may face steeper costs for setting up data centers and other such facilities. 
• It will also contribute to application development for government use. 
• The corpus is the Centre's largest direct investment in Al, even as efforts to bring more semiconductor fabrication, design and assembly facilities are underway. 
• The corpus will be disbursed through the India l AI Mission launched last year. "In the Artificial Intelligence area, the progress and solutions from India will be strengthened," Union Commerce and Industries Minister Piyush Goyal said announcing the corpus. "Graphics Processor Units will be made in Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode," Mr. Goyal added. 

24.Center to rope in ISRO to provide Internet in 80 remote tribal villages 

• The Tribal Affairs ML ministry is planning to collaborate with the fridian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to de ploy VSRT (very small aperture terminal stations on a pilot basis for around 80 tribal villages in Jhark hand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Maharashtra to bring Internet services there, according to a proposal unveiled on Thursday at a Ministry event meant to brainstorm innovative projects for tribal development. 
• ISKO chief S. Somnath confirmed to The Hindu that they were going to collaborate with the Ministry on this project and that the two bodies would soon sign a memorandum of understanding to give pilot connectivity (services such as Internet, medical and educational connectivity) to these tribal-dominated villages. This proposal was among the many that were tabled at Thursday's meeting, chaired by Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Mun da, on innovative projects for empowering tribal communities with e-governance in these remote areas. They added that the Ministry was in the process of Amending these 80 villages in these four States and soon the modalities of the project would be worked out. 
• In addition ration with the ISRO, proposals for projects with other eminent institutes such as the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi, Indian Institute of Technology (ITT) Delhi, Indian Institute of Marriage (IIM) Calcutta , and Indian Institute of Science (JISc) in Bengaluru were discussed The collaboration with the ISRO will see the yo vernment set up VSAT stations for these 80 villages that are geographically remote and have difficult terrain, challenges that have kept them out of reach of connectivity for the longest time. 
• Officials at the Tribal Affairs Ministry said the pilot project would be monitored so that it could be scaled up to other similar tribal villages in other States as well, adding that the goal was also to help 
• Apart from this, the Ministry is partnering with the AIIMS to conduct advanced research ori tribal health issues with special emphasis on sickle cell anemia and in organizing training programmes for doctors and paramedical staff working in tribal areas. Vans are also on fon setting up a Bhagwan Birsa Munda Chair of Triba Health and Haematology a the AIIMS 
• In addition, a proposal has been brought to set a similar specialized department for appropriate technology and entrepreneurship in collaboration with the IFT, Delhi and th IIM, Kolkata 
• One other proposal w also tabled to collaborate with the IISc for setting a training facility wh will offer courses on se conductor to tribal dents. 

25.Center estimates dip in onion, potato production 

• Fruit and vegetable production in the country could touch 355.25 million tonnes (MT) in 2023-24, according to the first advance estimates of area and production of horticultural crops released by the Union Agriculture Ministry on Thursday. The area of production will be 28.77 million hectares. The final estimates for 2022-23 stand at 355.48 MT in 28.44 million hectares. 
• The data for 2022-23 show a 2.39% (8.3 MT) increase in production over that of 2021-22. "An increase in area of 1.41%, or 0.40 million hectares, is observed in 2022-23 (final estimates) over 2021-22," the Ministry said, It is fruit production 
• India's horticulture production in 2023-24 largely steady at 355.25 million tonnes mated to 110.21 MT in 2022-23 (final estimates), mainly due to increases in production of apples, bananas, grapes, mangoes and watermelon. Production of vegetables has increased from 209.14 MT in 2021-22 to 212.55 MT in 2022-23. 
• In the first advance estimates for 2023-24, the production is estimated to be about 355.25 MT. "An increase in area of 1.15% or 3.27 lakh hectares is observed in 2023-24 (first estimate) over 2022-23 (final estimate)," the government said. "The production of fruits is expected to reach 112.08 MT, mainly due to Increases in production of banana, mandarin and mango. Production of vegetables is envisaged to be around 209.39 million tonnes. Increase is expected in production of cabbage, cauliflower, pumpkin, tapioca, tomato and other vegetables," it added. 
• While the production of tomatoes is expected to increase by 1.93% over the previous year's numbers, the production of onions is expected to be around 254.73 lakh tonnes, much less than the 302.08 lakh tonnes of last year. 
• Production of potatoes In 2023-24 is also expected to be lower at around 589.94 lakh tonnes compared with around 601.42 lakh tonnes last year. 

26.Covishield vaccine demonstrated more robust immune response compared to Covexin, says study 

• A new study by a consortium of 11 institutes, led by scientists from the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), has found that the Covishield vaccine demonstrated more robust immune responses compared to Covexin. 
• The study compared the immunogenicity of Covishield and Covaxin, the two primary COVID-19 vaccines widely used in India. 
• The findings of the study, which have been published in the journal The Lancet Regional Health Southeast Asia, offer valuable insights into the quality and quantity of immune responses induced by these vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, with significant implications for shaping future vaccination strategies. 
• The key findings state that Covishield, leveraging a virus vector to deliver the spike protein of the coronavirus, consistently demonstrated more robust immune response com- pared to Covexin, an inac- tivated virus vaccine. 
• "Notably, Covershield exhibited a near-complete immune response in the majority of participants, whereas the response to Covexin was variable," states the key findings released by NCBS. 
• The study, carried out from June 2021 to January 2022, involved assessing 691 participants, aged between 18 and 45 years, from Bengaluru and Pune 

27.Citizens have right to criticise revocation of Article 370, says SC 

• The Supreme Court on Thursday quashed an FIR accusing a college professor in Maharashtra of spreading enmity and disharmony by terming the day of revocation of special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 a "black day" and wishing "happy independence" to the people of Pakistan on a WhatsApp group of faculty and parents. 
• "Describing the day the abrogation happened as a 'Black Day' is an expression of protest and anguish. The right to dissent in a lawful manner must be treated as a part of the right to lead a dignified and meaningful life guaranteed by Article 21, Justice A.S. Oka, heading a Division Bench, observed in the judgment. 
• Justice Oka said a "simple protest registered by Professor Javed Ahmed Ha- jam against the decision to revoke Article 370 cannot be used by the police to lodge a case under Section 153A (promoting enmity among different classes of people) of the Indian Penal Code. 
• To invoke Section 153A, he said, there should have been an intention to promote feelings of enmity or hatred among different classes of people. The provision should not be used to silence dissent, it noted. 
• "The Constitution guarantees freedom of speech and expression. Every citizen has the right to offer criticism of the action of abrogation of Article 370 or, for that matter, every decision of the state. He has the right to say he is unhappy with any decision of the state," he asserted. 

28.Al knowledge consortium formed by 12 organizations 

• Trohe josearch Heater Home and think tanks have Joined forces to escalate The Artificial Intelligence Knowledge Conserthan (AIKCI in india, "dedemed to championing (s) min stakeholder approach to Al governance, the bodies anncameed on Thursday 
• "As Al becomes air Inte yond part of our daily lives, the AIKO recognises responsible business practices and comprehensive so cletal oversight are dual Imperatives the organisa talons said. The AIKOS secretariat will be housed at Koan Advisory, a private consultancy that advises foreign firms on entering the Indian market. 
• The launch was accompanied by a report titled "What Indian Parliamentarians Think of At", which surveyed 31 MPs on the technology, "Nearly all MPs emphasized the importance of a human-contrie approach to Al regulation, while 82% also stressed the centrality of Innovation-centricity," Congress MP Manish Tewari said. 
• The members include Aapti Institute; Cyber Saathis Community; Esya Centres Institute for Governance, Policies and Politics, and New Indian Consumer Initiative.