Current Affairs is the most important area in all competitive exams. But the difficulty level is very high. That’s why; many aspirants get confused, how to select Current Affairs for Preparation of Competitive Examination? In this Post, Daily Current Affairs 12 June 2021, we have tried to cover each and every point and also included all important facts from National/ International news that are useful for upcoming competitive examinations such as UPSC, SSC, Railway, State Govt. etc.
Daily Current Affairs 12 June 2021
Ministry of Education releases AISHE 2019-20 report
The Ministry of Education recently released the All Indian Survey of Higher Education (AISHE) report 2019-20.
The report revealed that the number of Institutes of National Importance (INIs) have increased from 75 in 2015 to 135 in 2020.
The number of PhDs has also increased by 60 per cent in the last five years.
Students pursuing a Master’s degree in technology had decreased by more than half in the last five years alone, from 2,89,311 in 2014-15 to 1,35,500 in 2018-19.
As per the AISHE report 2018-19, BTech and MTech programmes had seen a dramatic fall. B.Tech enrolment fell by 11 per cent in the same period, from 42,54,919 to 37,70,949.
Justice A K Sikri appointed as Chairman of IAMAI’s Grievance Redressal Board
Former Supreme Court Judge Arjan Kumar Sikri appointed as the Chairman of the Internet and Mobile Association of India, a self-regulatory body for streaming content companies like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.
The Digital Publisher Content Grievances Council (DPCGC), the body whose Grievance Redressal Board (GRB) Sikri will be chairing, has been constituted in compliance with the recently notified Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.
Some OTT services who were previously under the IAMAI’s aegis have decided to join a different self-regulatory body under the Indian Broadcasting Foundation, which has so far been an SRB for TV broadcasters.
Kerala to setting up COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing unit
The Kerala state cabinet decided to establish a vaccine manufacturing unit in the state. The unit will be set up in the Bio 360 Life Sciences Park in Thonnakkal in Thiruvananthapuram district.
The cabinet decided to appoint bureacrat Dr S Chithra as the project director of the vaccine production unit and Dr KP Sudheer, Principal Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, as Chairman.
New facility would work in tandem with the Institute of Advanced Virology under the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment.
Two species of monals sighted together in Arunachal Pradesh
Two species of monal, a colour pheasant, were sighted together in Local wildlife enthusiasts in Upper Siang district of central Arunachal Pradesh.
While Himalayan monal (Lophophorus impejanus) is more widely distributed from Afghanistan to northeast India, the rarer Sclater’s (Lophophorus sclateri) monal is found in southern China and northern Myanmar.
A trio of wildlife enthusiasts – Obang Mibang, Tajir Tamuk and Geyong Tayeng – led by Mt. Everest climber Kishon Tekseng and his team sighted the birds on Mount Eko Dumbing at 4,173 metres above mean sea level. The sighting was during an expedition in April.
A male Sclater’s monal, listed as vulnerable by the International Union of Conservation of Nature was also sighted near Komji Lipik at an altitude of 2,850 metres.
A pair of male and female Himalayan monal was sighted at Bomeh at 3,700 metres above mean sea level.
Komji Lipik and Bomeh, also in Upper Siang district, are on the way to Mount Eko Dumbing, which is covered by snow for the most part of the year.
EIU releases Global Liveability Ranking 2021
The Economist’s Intelligence Unit recently released its annual Global Liveability Index, with New Zealand’s Auckland earning the number 1 spot. According to the EIU survey, six of the top 10 cities are in New Zealand and Australia.
The cities that have risen to the top of the rankings this year are largely the ones that have taken stringent measures to contain the pandemic.
Adelaide, Osaka, Tokyo, and Wellington made up the top five Asia-Pacific cities on the 2021 edition of the EIU’s annual Global Liveability Ranking.
Geneva and Zurich in Switzerland were among the non-Asia-Pacific cities to make it to the top 10 on the EIU ranking were for their standard of living.
While the EIU didn’t reveal the full list of ranking for the 140 countries, it has also announced the 10 least liveable cities in the world, which are indicated alongside the top 10 most liveable cities in the world below:
10 Most Liveable Cities in the World
- Auckland (New Zealand)
- Osaka (Japan)
- Adelaide (Australia)
- Wellington (New Zealand)
- Tokyo (Japan)
- Perth (Australia)
- Zurich (Switzerland)
- Geneva (Switzerland)
- Melbourne (Australia)
- Brisbane (Australia)
Google to build longest Undersea Cable in the World
Alphabet’s Google is all set to build world’s longest undersea cable Connecting United States, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay to bolster Internet connection capacity between these regions.
The cable, called Firmina, will be the longest cable in the world and it will run from the East Coast of the United States to Las Toninas, Argentina, with additional landings in Praia Grande, Brazil, and Punta del Este, Uruguay.
A submarine communications cable is a cable laid on the sea bed between land-based stations to carry telecommunication signals across stretches of ocean and sea, also lake or lagoon.
The first submarine communications cables laid beginning in the 1850s carried telegraphy traffic, establishing the first instant telecommunications links between continents, such as the first transatlantic telegraph cable which became operational on 16 August 1858.
Subsequent generations of cables carried telephone traffic, then data communications traffic. Modern cables use optical fibre technology to carry digital data, which includes telephone, Internet and private data traffic.
Over 200 Pakke Tiger Reserve workers may finally get their dues
Over 200 contingency workers of the Pakke Tiger Reserve in Arunachal Pradesh went on a strike over non-payment of wages, leaving the tiger reserve unguarded, state Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar.
The tiger reserve is located in Pakke-Kessang district, about 78 km from the state capital.
The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) provides the wages of the contingency staff of the tiger reserve periodically through the state government.
The workers’ union has been seeking the release of their salaries for the past six months, the regularisation of the Special Tiger Protection Force (STPF), an increase of wage which was last revised in 2018 to Rs 11,000 per month, and a monthly payout of salaries.
Towards the south and south-east, the sanctuary adjoins Nameri National Park of Assam. To the east lies the Pakke River and to the west, the park is bounded by the Bhareli or Kameng River.
Kerala state government launched Smart Kitchen project
The Kerala government announced the introduction of a Smart Kitchen project, which is meant to modernise kitchens and ease the difficulty faced by homemakers in household chores.
It is meant to modernise kitchens and ease the difficulty faced by homemakers in household chores. By enhancing mechanisation in kitchens, women participation in labour could be increased.
It would be implemented through the Kerala State Financial Enterprises (KSFE), a state-run chit fund and lending firm.
Under the scheme, KSFE would give soft loans to women from all walks of life for purchasing household gadgets or equipment.
Members of Kudumbashree, which is Kerala’s women empowerment and poverty alleviation scheme, would get preference in purchasing kitchen gadgets under smart kitchen scheme. No collateral would be demanded from Kudumbashree members, as per the initial plan.
Increase in MSP for Kharif crops for marketing season 2020-21
The Cabinet Committee has approved the increase in the Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) for all mandated Kharif crops for marketing season 2020-21.
Government has increased the MSP of Kharif crops for marketing season 2020-21, to ensure remunerative prices to the growers for their produce.
The highest increase in MSP is proposed for nigerseed (Rs 755 per quintal) followed by sesamum (Rs 370 per quintal), urad (Rs 300 per quintal) and cotton (long staple) (Rs 275 per quintal). The differential remuneration is aimed at encouraging crop diversification.
The increase in MSP for Kharif Crops for marketing season 2020-21 is in line with the Union Budget 2018-19 announcement of fixing the MSPs at a level of at least 1.5 times of the All-India weighted average Cost of Production (CoP), aiming at reasonably fair remuneration for the fanners.
The expected returns to farmers over their cost of production are estimated to be highest in case of Bajra (83%) followed by urad (64%), tur (58%) and maize (53%). For rest of the crops, return to farmers over their cost of production is estimated to be at least 50%.
Thaawarchand Gehlot inaugurates Ambedkar Bhawan of NIEPID
The Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Thaawarchand Gehlot inaugurated the Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Bhawan (Hostel Building) of NIEPID Secunderabad.
It is an Autonomous Body under the administrative control of Deparment of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan), Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment
It is dedicated to provide quality services to Persons with Intellectual Disabilities (Divyangjan) in the National interest.
Established in the year 1984, it was formerly known as National Institute for the Mentally Handicapped.
Headquartered in Secunderabad (Telangana), NIEPID has three regional centers located at Noida/ New Delhi, Kolkata, & Mumbai.
UN Security Council Recommends António Guterres for Second Term
The United Nations Security Council recommended the re-election of António Guterres as secretary general, assuring a second term for the Portuguese statesman that will keep him in office until 2027.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations.
The Secretary-General is appointed by the General Assembly, on the recommendation of the Security Council. The Secretary-General’s selection is therefore subject to the veto of any of the five permanent members of the Security Council.
The office’s qualifications are open to interpretation and have been established by custom and precedent in previous selections.
The length of the term is discretionary, but all secretaries-general since 1971 have been appointed to five-year terms.
While there are no term limits applicable to this post, no Secretary-General has so far served more than two terms. No secretary-general since 1981 has attempted to secure a third term.
Anti-hail guns to help out to Himachal’s problem of crop damage
The Himachal Pradesh government will be testing the use of indigenously developed ‘anti-hail guns’ to help out horticulturists who face crop damage due to hailstorms.
An anti-hail gun is a machine which generates shock waves to disrupt the growth of hailstones in clouds, according to its makers.
It comprises a tall, fixed structure somewhat resembling an inverted tower, several metres high, with a long and narrow cone opening towards the sky.
The gun is “fired” by feeding an explosive mixture of acetylene gas and air into its lower chamber, which releases a shock wave (waves which travel faster than the speed of sound, such as those produced by supersonic aircraft).
These shock waves supposedly stop water droplets in clouds from turning into hailstones, so that they fall simply as raindrops.
In 2010, the state government had imported three anti-hail guns from the United States and installed them in three separate villages in the apple-growing belt of Shimla, where hailstorms in summer cause severe damage to the fruit every year.
Former Indian boxer Dinko Singh passed away
Former Indian boxer Dingko Singh, who was diagnosed with liver cancer in 2017, passed away. He was born 1 Jan 1979 in Manipur, India.
He won the gold medal for India in the 1998 Asian Games Bangkok, Thailand in 54kg Cat. He also received Country’s fourth-highest civilian honour, the Padma Shri, in 2013
He was a service personnel of the Indian Navy (Master Chief Petty Officer).
He is considered to have been one of the most outstanding boxers India ever produced. He won the King’s cup in Bangkok in 1997.
In his journey to the gold, Dingko achieved a major upset by defeating Wong Prages Sontaya, an excellent boxer from Thailand in the semifinal match.
MoU signed to provide “Demand Based Tele Agriculture Advisories” to farmers
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Digital India Corporation (DIC) have signed an initial pact to provide location specific farm tele-advisories in order to facilitate farmers by providing location specific Demand Based Tele Agriculture Advisories.
‘The objective of the MoU is to integrate the existing Interactive Information Dissemination System (IIDS) platform of DIC with the proposed KisanSarathi program of ICAR and its implementation through ICAR network to reach a large number of farmers across the country.
ICAR which is under the agriculture ministry and DIC comes under the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology.
Both ICAR and DIC have agreed to collaborate to develop and deploy ICT platforms to establish and operate a multi-media, multi-way advisory and communication system for supporting various agricultural activities at local level.
To start with, IIDS would be deployed at ICAR which is a push-and-pull-based system wherein agriculture-related information can be pulled from the farmers using mobile phones.
World Child labour Prohibition Day 2021
The World Child labour Prohibition Day is celebrated on 12 June each year to raise awareness and activism to prevent child labour.
The theme of this year’s World Day Against Child Labour is: “Act now: end child labour.” This theme has been included because COVID-19 pandemic has pushed millions towards poverty and child labour is directly linked to it.
World Day Against Child Labour was introduced in 2002 by the International Labour Organisation.
It was reported by UNICEF and International Labour Organization (ILO) this year that the number of children in child labour has risen to 160 million across the world. This is an increase of 8.4 million children in the last four years.
This day mainly focus on the children development and it protects the right of education and dignified life for the children.
Therefore, it is important to achieve the Sustainable development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 as propagated by the UN. Several organisations, ILO etc. are making efforts to curb the child labour.
