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 28 August 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 28 August 2021
RBI includes PM SVANidhi Scheme beneficiaries to PIDF
Reserve Bank of India had extended the scheme for encouraging the deployment of Point of Sale (PoS) infrastructure to street vendors which comes under the PM SVANidhi programme.
The Reserve Bank has now decided to include street vendors identified as part of the PM Street Vendor’s Atma Nirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi Scheme) in tier-1 and tier-2 centres as beneficiaries under the PIDF Scheme.
As hitherto, the street vendors in tier-3 to tier-6 centres will continue to be covered under the Scheme.
The Payments Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) scheme, with a corpus of Rs 345 crore, predicts making 30 lakhs new touch points each year for digital payments in level 3 to level 6 communities.
Union Steel Minister inaugurated MSTC’s new corporate office in Kolkata
Union Minister for Steel, Shri Ram Chandra Prasad Singh inaugurated MSTC’s new Corporate building at Newtown, Kolkata. The Minister also inaugurated a Data center and launched the mobile app on 10 S android.
MSTC Ltd, previously known as Metal Scrap Trade Corporation was set up in 1964 as a regulatory body for export of ferrous scrap and thereafter canalizing agency for import of ferrous scrap and old ships for breaking in the country.
From traditional business MSTC has diversified to e-commerce, Today, MSTC has more than seventeen offices across the country.
MSTC has formed a Joint Venture company, ‘Mahindra MSTC Recycling Priva te Limited’ (MMRPL) with Mis Mahindra intergraded Ltd.
MMRPL has set up three Collection and Dismantling (C&D) centers at Noida (U.P.), Chennai and Pune to scrap ELVs (End of Life Vehicles), in an environmentally sound manner following the laid down guidelines.
Rajnath Singh commissions Coast Guard patrol vessel Vigraha
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh commissionedthe Indian Coast Guard (ICG) Ship Vigraha, seventh in the series of Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) in Chennai on August 28, 2021.
The ship will be based in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh and operate on the eastern seaboard under the Operational and Administrative Control of the Commander, Coast Guard Region (East).
The 98-meter OPV, with a complement of 11 officers and 110 sailors, has been designed and built indigenously by Larsen & Toubro Ship Building Limited.
The vessel is armed with a 40/60 Bofors gun and fitted with two 12.7 mm Stabilised Remote Control Gun with fire control system. The ship is also designed to carry one twin-engine Helicopter and four high speed boats for boarding operation, search & rescue, law enforcement and maritime patrol.
Mandaviya took charge as Stop TB Partnership Board Chairperson
India’s Health and Family Welfare Minister Mansukh Mandaviya took over charge as the Chairperson of Stop TB Partnership Board.
The Minister will hold the responsibility with immediate effect until 2024. He also expressed his gratitude to outgoing Chair of Stop TB Board, former Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan.
Established in the year 2000, the ‘Stop TB Partnership’ is mandated to eliminate Tuberculosis as a public health problem.
The organization was conceived following the meeting of the First Session of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Tuberculosis Epidemic held in London in March 1998.
In its inaugural year itself, the Stop TB Partnership through the Amsterdam Declaration gave a call for collaborative action from ministerial delegations from 20 countries that bear the highest burden of TB.
It has 1500 partner organizations which include international, non-governmental and governmental organizations and patient groups. The Secretariat is based at Geneva, Switzerland.
NITI Aayog released North Eastern Region District SDG Index and Dashboard
Government think tank NITI Aayog recently released the first edition of the North-Eastern Region District Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Index and Dashboard 2021–22.
The NER District SDG Index& Dashboard, a collaborative effort by NITI Aayog and Ministry of DoNER, with technical support from UNDP.
The Index measures the performance of the districts of the eight States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura on the Sustainable Development Goals.
Out of the 103 districts considered for ranking, 64 districts belonged to the Front Runner category while 39 districts were in the Performer category in the composite score and ranking of districts.
Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano
The ground at the summit of Kilauea volcano in Hawaii has been rumbling and swelling in recent days, prompting scientists to warn that the mountain could once again disgorge lava.
The activity is occurring at the summit of Kilauea volcano, an uninhabited area within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island. This is about 200 miles southeast of Honolulu, which is on a different island called Oahu.
The volcano, which is among the world’s most active, has behaved similarly in the past without any magma breaking the surface.
Kilauea has erupted 34 times since 1952. From 1983 to 2018, it erupted almost continuously, in some cases sending streams of lava that covered farms and homes.
Maldives signed contract for India-funded $500 million connectivity project
The government of Maldives and an Indian construction firm signed a contract for the $500-million Greater Malé Connectivity Project (GMCP), the Indian Ocean archipelago’s largest infrastructure project that is being funded by New Delhi.
This infrastructure project, the largest-ever by India in the Maldives, involves the construction of a 6.74-km-long bridge and causeway link that will connect the Maldives capital Malé with the neighbouring islands of Villingli, Gulhifalhu and Thilafushi.
This project was funded by India in a grant of $100 million, with a line of credit of $400 million. This project is significant because it facilitates inter-island connectivity in the country
The GMCP is not only the biggest project India is doing in the Maldives but also the biggest infrastructure project in the Maldives overall.
Share Based Employee Benefits Regulations 2021
The Securities and Exchange Board of India approved the merger of the SEBI (Share Based Employee Benefits) Regulations, 2014 (SBEB Regulations) and the SEBI (Issue of Sweat Equity) Regulations, 2002 (Sweat Equity Regulations) into the SEBI (Share Based Employee Benefits and Sweat Equity) Regulations, 2021.
The new regulations have widened the scope of employees who can be offered stock options, and brought in other key changes that will benefit the employees and listed companies issuing these options.
Companies will now be allowed to provide share-based employee benefits to employees, who are exclusively working for such a company or any of its group companies including a subsidiary or an associate.
To provide immediate relief to an employee or his/her family in instances of permanent incapacity or death, the regulations have dispensed with the requirement of a minimum vesting period and lock-in period (minimum 1 year) for all share benefit schemes.
The new regulations have extended the time period for appropriating the unappropriated inventory of shares held by the trust from the existing one year to two years, subject to the approval of the Compensation Committee/ Nomination and Remuneration Committee.
The regulations now also permit companies to transfer excess shares or monies held by a trust upon its winding up, to other share-based employee benefit schemes, subject to approval of the shareholders for such transfer.
These new Rules will be applicable only to listed companies as these have been framed by SEBI, which only regulates listed companies.
World Bank halts all financial assistance for projects to Afghanistan
World Bank has halted all financial assistance for projects to Afghanistan. The move comes in the wake of the Taliban assuming power in the country.
The World Bank paused disbursements in its operations in Afghanistan and is closely monitoring and assessing the situation in line with its internal policies and procedures.
The World Bank will continue to consult closely with the international community and development partners in this direction.
Concerns have also been raised as regards the impact on the country’s development prospects, especially for women.
Ministry of Civil Aviation notified liberalised Drone Rules, 2021
The Ministry of Civil Aviation published the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Rules, 2021. Based on the feedback, the Government has decided to repeal the UAS Rules, 2021 and replace the same with the liberalised Drone Rules, 2021.
Key features of Drone Rules 2021
- Several approvals abolished: unique authorisation number, unique prototype identification number, certificate of manufacturing and airworthiness, certificate of conformance, certificate of maintenance, import clearance, acceptance of existing drones, operator permit, authorisation of R&D organisation, student remote pilot licence, remote pilot instructor authorisation, drone port authorisation etc.
- Number of forms reduced from 25 to 5. Types of fee reduced from 72 to 4.
- Quantum of fee reduced to nominal levels and delinked with size of drone.
- Digital sky platform shall be developed as a user-friendly single-window system.
- No permission required for operating drones in green zones. Yellow zone reduced from 45 km to 12 km from the airport perimeter.
- No remote pilot licence required for micro drones (for non-commercial use) and nano drones.
- Drone promotion council to be set up by Government with participation from academia, startups and other stakeholders to facilitate a growth-oriented regulatory regime.
Carol Furtado appointed as Ujjivan Small Finance Bank interim head
Ujjivan Small Finance Bank has unanimously approved the appointment of Carol Furtado as the officer on special duty leading the day-to-day operation of the bank from August 26.
A board meeting was scheduled to put in place a crisis management team six days after MD and CEO Nitin Chugh resigned amid signs of a clash of culture between the old and new guard at the fledgling bank that started operations in 2017.
After Chugh vacates office on September 30, 2021, Furtado will take charge as the interim CEO, subject to RBI approval.
The board will continue to hunt for suitable candidates to the post in parallel and will submit two names to the RBI for its approval.
With over 25 years of experience in microfinance and retail banking, Furtado was one of the key members of the leadership team that laid the foundation and built Ujjivan and has been part of Ujjivan group since 2005.
LIC launched Mobile App for agents
Life Insurance Corporation of India recently launched a mobile app called “Ananda mobile app” for its agents and intermediaries in order to onboard the prospective customers.
ANANDA stands for Atma Nirbhar Agents New Business Digital Application. ANANDA is the paperless solution for new business processes.
This digital application will help in onboarding process to get insurance policy by a paperless module with the help of agent or intermediary.
The app comprises of all distinctive features of the digital app. App could be developed as a result of high-level usage of ANANDA module.
It was built on paperless KYC process by using Aadhaar based e-authentication. It provides an easy access to the field force in reaching out the prospective customers by means of latest technology.
Sri Basava International Award for seer of Bhalki Hiremath
Karnataka government has selected Sri Basavaliga Pattaddevaru, senior seer of Bhalki Hiremath, for the prestigious Sri Basava International Award.
Minister for Kannada and Culture V. Sunil Kumar will present the award at Ravindra Kalakshetra in Bengaluru on August 18.
The septuagenarian seer has spent over five decades in the Lingayat religious institution in Bidar district.
He has set up educational and charitable institutions, apart from spreading the message of Sri Basaveshwara and other sharanas of the 12th century.
A child rescue centre and adoption agency he set up 18 years ago, has raised, educated and offered for adoption around 75 children so far.
TECNO launched first exclusive retail outlet in New Delhi
TECNO announced the launch of its first exclusive retail outlet in the national capital, in a bid to enhance the buying experience for its customers.
Located in the heart of East Delhi at the TECNO branded Laxmi Nagar Metro Station which is also close to one of the busiest mobile cluster markets in Delhi.
In line with the brand’s philosophy of ‘Stop at Nothing’, this is yet another step from TECNO that not only reinstates the company’s commitment to providing a seamless retail experience but also strengthens the brand’s connection with its target audience.
The outlet will house TECNO’s most popular smartphones across all its product line portfolios such as the camera-centric CAMON series, the powerful POVA series and the all-rounder SPARK series.
Uttar Pradesh government adopts Indian wrestling till 2032 Olympics
The Uttar Pradesh government has adopted the sport and is expected to pump in an investment of Rs 170 crore in infrastructure and support to the wrestlers till the 2032 Olympics.
They took inspiration from the Odisha government’s support to the sport of hockey and they approached the UP government for a similar assistance to their game.
The WFI had also roped in Tata Motors in 2018 as principal sponsors of Indian wrestling, a partnership which had brought with it a financial support of Rs 12 crore that allowed the federation to give away central contracts to wrestlers till the Tokyo Games.
WFI already extends a financial support to 60 junior (Rs 7500 per month stipend) and Cadet (Rs 5000 per month) wrestlers.