Current Affairs | National | International | SSC | UPSC 9th April 2025

 State News 

1. In election-bound Bihar, Cabinet approves hirings for over 27,000 govt. jobs

•   Ahead of the Bihar Assembly election due later this year, the Nitish Kumar-led Cabinet on Tuesday approved proposals to fill up 27,370 posts in departments. various
•   Most of the recruitment, for 20,016 vacancies, will be done by the Health Department, S. Siddharth, the Additional Chief Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, said in a media briefing. He added that the depart-ment's proposal to create a 'Public Health Cadre' and a 'Hospital Management Cadre' to fill vacancies across various categories was also accepted by the Cabinet. 
•  It also approved the creation of 3,306 'Assistant Urdu Translator' posts. The translators, Mr. Sidd harth said, will be deployed in various departments, districts, blocks, and circles across Bihar. 
•  The Cabinet also played down the Education Department's proposal to micro-monitor schools from the primary to the higher secondary levels to ensure quality education in Bihar. An Assistant Education Development Officer (AE-DO) will be given the job of inspecting and monitoring schools across 10 panchayats, while an Education Development Officer will monitor schools at the block level. There are over 84,00 panchayats and 534 blocks in the State. 
•  The Cabinet announcements come nearly a month after the CM, on his 74th birthday, handed over 100 appointment letters to contractual teachers at a function in the Secretariat in Bihar.
• A day earlier, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi joined the 'Palayan Roko, Naukri Do (stop mi-gration, give employment)' foot march organised by the party in Begusarai, along with NSUI's national incharge Kanhaiya Kumar and Bihar Congress chief Rajesh Kumar. 
•  Recruitment drive The government has distributed appointment letters to 59,028 contractual teachers as part of a separate recruitment drive. 
• As the poll campaigns pick up pace, the Opposition parties have repeatedly attacked the ruling National Democratic Alliance government over the issue of "rising unemployment" 
•  Congress's ally Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has held several public meet-ings and rallies on the is-sue, with its leader Tejashwi Yadav promising to implement a 100% domicile policy if his party comes to power. In his public interactions, Mr. Yadav has spoken about providing "five lakh jobs" during his 17-month tenure as Bihar's Deputy CM.
•   Hike in Ministers' dues The Cabinet also agreed to raise the salaries of Ministers and Deputy Ministers from 250,000 to 265,000 and increase their local, daily, hospitality, and travel allowances. 

Defence News

 2. India, UAE to deepen defence cooperation 

•  India and the UAE on Tues-day agreed that "close cooperation between the defence industries" should be an "integral part" of the bilateral cooperation, the government said in a press note after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh met visiting Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
•   "The two leaders expressed satisfaction on the active Coast Guard to Coast Guard cooperation and committed to further deepen it by formalising the same through an MoU," the press note read. 
•  Mr. Singh said the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with the UAE was of "immense priority" for India, adding, "In the com-ing years, we are eager to work closely in areas such as defence cooperation, co-production and co-development projects, innovation and technology. Both India and the UAE are committed to work towards peace and prosperity in the region." 
• The Crown Prince said, "Our conversations reaffirmed the strength of UAE-India ties which is built on trust, shaped by history, and driven by a shared vision to create a future full of opportunity, innovation, and prosperity.” 

Schemes and Committees News 

3. Modi says 52-cr. loans given under MUDRA 

•  Prime Minister Narendra Modi, interacting with beneficiaries here on Tuesday on the 10th anniversary of the Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana, said the scheme has turned several dreams into reality, empowering people who were previously overlooked with financial support to shine. "It illustrates that for the people of India, nothing is impossible," he said. 
•  Mr. Modi said 52-crore loans had been disbursed under the scheme so far. He said ₹33 lakh crore has been disbursed to the citizens of India under the scheme without the need for guarantees.
•  "This amount is unpre-cedented and surpasses any financial support extended to wealthy individuals collectively," the PM said, adding that job creation through the scheme has significantly contributed to economic growth. "The earnings of common citizens have increased, enabling them to improve their living standards and invest in education for their children," he said. 
•  He said half of the beneficiaries belonged to SC, ST and OBC communities, and over 70% of them are women. 

Books and Author News 

4. Banu Mushtaq's Heart Lamp makes it to Booker shortlist 

•  Banu Mushtaq's collection of Kannada stories in translation, Heart Lamp, was shortlisted on Tuesday for the International Booker Prize. The book is among the six featured in this year's shortlist. 
•  Heart Lamp, translated by Deepa Bhasthi, is a collection of 12 short stories written by Ms. Mushtaq bet=een 1990 and 2023. 
•  Responding to the news, Ms. Mushtaq said she was elated to find Kannada stories on the shortlist

 Science and Technology News 

5. EPFO joinees can now create UAN with Aadhaar biometrics 

• The Universal Account Number (UAN) of the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) can now be activated and allotted using face authentication, Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Tuesday. At present, UANs are generated by employers who submit employee data to the EPFO. 
•  Though this data is validated using Aadhaar data, many errors occur in other fields such as father's name and mobile number, Mr. Mandaviya noted. "Due to these errors, many employees had to update their data while submitting claims or for other benefits," he said. New employees or any employer can generate UAN using the Aadhaar face authentication technology using the Umang App, he added. 

6. Genome study: 180 million genetic variants found in 9,772 individuals

•   Preliminary findings of the Genome India project, which genotyped 10,074 healthy and unrelated Indians from 85 populations - 32 tribal and 53 non-tribal populations across India, were published in the journal Nature Genetics on Tuesday. Blood samples were collected from nearly 20,000 individuals, of which DNA samples from 10,074 individuals were subjected to whole genome sequencing. 
• Nearly 100 samples were collected from each population with a median of 159 samples from each non-tribal group and 75 from each tribal group to estimate the relatively rare variants that are important to understand complex. diseases. 
•  After excluding two populations, the preliminary findings are based on the genetic information of 9,772 individuals, 4,696 male participants and 5,076 female participants. The genome sequence data are deposited in the Indian Biological Data Centre housed in the Regional Centre for Biotechnology in Faridabad, Haryana.
•   The genomes of Tibeto-Burman tribe, Indo-European tribe, Dravidian tribe, Austro-Asiatic tribe, and continentally admixed outgroup were sequenced. In the case of non-tribes, the genomes of Tibeto-Burman non-tribe, Indo-European non-tribe, and Dravi dian non-tribe were sequenced. 
•  In all, 180 million genetic variants were found when the genomes of 9,772 individuals were sequenced. Some of the variants are as-sociated with diseases; some others are rare while some variants are unique to India; and some others are unique to particular communities or small populations.
•   "We are now trying to find out the implications of these variants," said Dr. Kumarasamy Thangaraj of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CSIR-CCMB), Hyderabad, and one of the corresponding authors of the Comment piece. "We are looking for variants which are functionally relevant to diseases, those associated with therapeutic res-ponses or no responses, and those that are causing adverse effects to therapeutic agents." 
•  Dr. Thangaraj said the information on variants associated with specific diseases can be utilised for developing low-cost diagnostic kits and for personalised medicine. "In Depth analysis of 9,772 diverse genomes along with the blood biochemistry and anthropometry data will improve disease diagnostics, predict the genetic basis of drug responses, and kickstart precision medicine efforts in India," the authors write. A detailed paper will be published in the next couple of months.