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 18 July 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 18 July 2021
US, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan to form new quad grouping
The US, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan have agreed in principle to establish a new quadrilateral diplomatic platform focused on enhancing regional connectivity.
The parties consider long-term peace and stability in Afghanistan critical to regional connectivity and agree that peace and regional connectivity are mutually reinforcing.
Afghanistan is bordered by Pakistan to the east and south, Iran to the west, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan to the north, and China to the northeast.
Located at the heart of the historic Silk Road, Afghanistan was long the crossroads of commerce between Asian countries connecting them to Europe, and enhancing religious, cultural, and commercial contacts.
The formation of the new quad group is important amid China’s desire to extend its Belt and Road Initiative to Afghanistan. By virtue of its location, Afghanistan can provide China with a strategic base to spread its influence across the world.
RBI barred Mastercard, American Express & Diners Club
Reserve Bank of India has barred Mastercard, American Express and Diners Club from taking new customers on board over the issue of storing data in India.
The RBI imposed restrictions on Mastercard Asia Pacific Pte Ltd from onboarding new domestic customers (debit, credit or prepaid) in India from July 22, citing non-compliance with guidelines for storage of data in India.
The RBI had given almost three years for Mastercard to comply with the regulatory directions, but it was unable to complete the process.
In April this year, the RBI had imposed restrictions on American Express Banking Corp and Diners Club International Ltd from enrolling new domestic customers onto their card networks from May 1, 2021, also citing non-compliance of storage of data.
EWS reservation being implemented in Andhra Pradesh
The state government of Andhra Pradesh has issued orders for implementation of 10 per cent EWS reservation in all government recruitments henceforth.
The order is in accordance with The Constitution (103rd) Amendment Act 2019 that provides for the creation of the special EWS quota to be implemented by the state.
The ruling YSR Congress Party government had started implementing EWS reservation in educational institutions soon after forming the government in June 2019.
The AP government has simplified the norms stipulated by the Centre for the implementation of 10 per cent reservation to the EWS in employment and education, without any sub-categorisation.
People who are not covered under the existing reservations for BCs, SCs, STs and whose gross annual family income is below Rs 8 lakh per annum, are eligible for EWS reservation in both employment and educational opportunities.
NASA Returns Hubble Space Telescope to Science Operations
NASA returned the science instruments on the Hubble Space Telescope to operational status, and the collection of science data will now resume.
The Hubble, launched in 1990, is considered by many to be the most important scientific tool ever to be built, having churned out more than 15 lakh observations that have been used to publish around 18,000 research papers.
Named after the astronomer Edwin Hubble, the observatory is the first major optical telescope to be placed in space and has made groundbreaking discoveries in the field of astronomy since its launch.
According to NASA’s official website, the launch and deployment of Hubble in April 1990 is said to be the “most significant advance in astronomy since Galileo’s telescope.”
India’s Afghanistan investment
India faces a situation in which it may have no role to play in Afghanistan, and in the worst case scenario, not even a diplomatic presence, as the Taliban push ahead with military offensives across Afghanistan.
The 42MW Salma Dam in Herat province was inaugurated in 2016 and is known as the Afghan-India Friendship Dam.
The other high-profile project was the 218-km Zaranj-Delaram highway built by the Border Roads Organisation. Zaranj is located close to Afghanistan’s border with Iran.
The Afghan Parliament in Kabul was built by India at $90 million. It was opened in 2015. A block in the building is named after former PM AB Vajpayee.
In 2016, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Prime Minister Modi inaugurated the restored Stor Palace in Kabul, originally built in the late 19th century, and which was the setting for the 1919 Rawalpindi Agreement by which Afghanistan became an independent country.
At the Geneva Conference in November, India announced that it had concluded with Afghanistan an agreement for the construction of the Shatoot Dam in Kabul district, which would provide safe drinking water to 2 million residents.
Last year, India pledged $1 million for another Aga Khan heritage project, the restoration of the Bala Hissar Fort south of Kabul, whose origins go back to the 6th century. Bala Hissar went on to become a significant Mughal fort, parts of it were rebuilt by Jahangir, and it was used as a residence by Shah Jahan.
Doppler radars help track and forecast weather
The Doppler radar of India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) in Mumbai, which surveys weather patterns and forecast, stopped working recently, when the city was witnessing rainfall.
In radars, a beam of energy– called radio waves– is emitted from an antenna. When this beam strikes an object in the atmosphere, the energy scatters in all directions, with some reflecting directly back to the radar.
The larger the object deflecting the beam, the greater is the amount of energy that the radar receives in return.
Observing the time required for the beam to be transmitted and returned to the radar allows weather forecasting departments to “see” raindrops in the atmosphere, and measure their distance from the radar.
What makes a Doppler radar special is that it can provide information on both the position of targets as well as their movement. It does this by tracking the ‘phase’ of transmitted radio wave pulses; phase meaning the shape, position, and form of those pulses.
EU economy and society to meet climate ambitions
The European Commission adopted a package of proposals to make the EU’s climate, energy, land use, transport and taxation policies fit for reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels.
Cars with internal combustion engines will disappear from European showrooms by 2035.
Steel producers and cement makers will pay for every ton of carbon dioxide their factories emit.
Cargo ships may not be able to dock in ports like Rotterdam, Netherlands, or Hamburg, Germany, unless they run on cleaner fuels. Commercial airliners will be required to fill up with synthetic fuel produced with green energy.
The European Union’s plan to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by more than half by the end of the decade will touch almost every industry in the trade bloc, with profound consequences for jobs and the bloc’s economy.
Manoj Sinha dismissed 11 Jammu & Kashmir government employees
Manoj Sinha, Lt Governor of J&K recently dismissed 11 Jammu and Kashmir government employees for alleged terror links under provisions of Article 311(2)(c) of the Constitution.
Article 311 of the Constitution deals with ‘Dismissal, removal or reduction in rank of persons employed in civil capacities under the Union or a State’.
Under Article 311(2), no civil servant can be “dismissed or removed or reduced in rank except after an inquiry in which he has been informed of the charges and given a reasonable opportunity of being heard in respect of those charges’’.
Subsection (c) of the provision, however, says this clause shall not apply “where the President or the Governor, as the case may be, is satisfied that in the interest of the security of the State it is not expedient to hold such inquiry”.
Supreme Court asks UP govt to reconsider allowing Kanwar Yatra
The Supreme Court has asked the Uttar Pradesh government to reconsider its decision to allow “symbolic” Kanwar Yatra in the state this year.
The Kanwar Yatra is a pilgrimage organised in the Hindu calendar month of Shravana (Saavan).
Saffron-clad Shiva devotees generally walk barefoot with pitchers of holy water from the Ganga or other holy rivers. Devotees carry the pitchers of holy water on their shoulders, balanced on decorated slings known as Kanwars.
In the Gangetic plains, the water is taken from pilgrimage sites such as Haridwar, Gaumukh and Gangotri in Uttarakhand, Sultanganj in Bihar, and Prayagraj, Ayodhya or Varanasi from Uttar Pradesh.
The water is used by the pilgrims to worship Shiva lingas at shrines of importance, include the 12 Jyotirlingas, or at certain specific temples such as the Pura Mahadeva and Augharnath Temple in Meerut or even in the devotee’s own village or town.
The ‘re-wilding’ of wild animals and the challenges
The recent attempt of Periyar Tiger Reserve (PTR) to reintroduce into the wild an abandoned nine-month-old cub named Mangala after rearing it in ‘captivity’ for two years has once again brought the controversial concept of ‘re-wilding’ of abandoned or injured animals under the lens.
Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary, wildlife Preserve in south-central Kerala state, southern India. The sanctuary is noted for herds of Asian elephants, sometimes having 50 members.
As per the Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines laid down by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) under Section 38(O) of The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, there are three ways to deal with orphaned or abandoned tiger cubs.
The first is to make an effort to reunite the abandoned cubs with their mother.
Second, if a reunion of the cub with its mother is not possible, then shift the cub to a suitable zoo.
Third, reintroduction of the cub into the wild after a certain time when it appears that the cub is capable of surviving in the wild independently. This is what is known as ‘re-wilding’.
Amazon forests are no longer acting as a carbon sink
The biggest rainforest in the world, Amazon forests have started emitting carbon dioxide (CO2) instead of absorbing carbon emissions.
A significant amount of deforestation in eastern and southeastern Brazil has turned the forest into a source of CO2 that has the ability to warm the planet.
Not only the Amazon rainforests, some forests in Southeast Asia have also turned into carbon sources in the last few years as a result of formation of plantations and fires.
The Amazon basin is huge with an area covering over 6 million square kilometres, it is nearly twice the size of India.
The Amazon rainforests cover about 80 per cent of the basin and as per NASA’s Earth observatory, they are home to nearly a fifth of the world’s land species and is also home to about 30 million people including hundreds of indigenous groups and several isolated tribes.
Nelson Mandela International Day 2021
Nelson Mandela International Day is celebrated on 18 July each year to remind the contributions of Mandela to the culture of peace, human right, reconciliation and freedom.
Nelson Mandela was born on 18 July, 1918 in South Africa. He was a great politician, revolutionary, and philanthropist.
On 18 July, Nelson Mandela’s birthday falls so, this day is celebrated as Nelson Mandela International Day. It is also known as Mandela Day.
The day is observed to “Take Action; Inspire Change; Make Every Day a Mandela Day.” Everywhere people should take responsibility for making the world a better place. For almost 67 years, he fought against social justice.
