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 4 September 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 4 September 2021

PPK Ramacharyulu appointed Rajya Sabha secretary general

For the first time in the history of Rajya Sabha, the secretary-general position on Tuesday was given to a serving official, Dr Parasaram Pattabhi Kesava Ramacharyulu, till further orders.

Ramacharyulu, who has over 40 years of experience, was appointed by Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu as the Rajya Sabha secretary in 2018. He succeeds Desh Deepak Verma, who retired today after completing four years in office.

Rajya Sabha Chairman, M Venkaiah Naidu has appointed Dr PPK Ramacharyulu, who is the secretary in the Rajya Sabha Secretariat since 2018, as the secretary general. He succeeds Desh Dipak Verma, who demitted office as secretary-general after serving the top post for four years. Ramacharyulu is the first insider to have risen from the ranks of the secretariat to the top post in the about 70 years of the Rajya Sabha.

Within hours of his appointment, the new secretary-general spoke to CNN-News18, thanking the Rajya Sabha chairman for the opportunity. ”It’s a big responsibility and I hope to serve the secretariat to the best of my ability…It is a special honour to be able to serve as Secretary-General.” This is The first such appointment in the Rajya Sabha since its inception in 1952. In the Lok Sabha, nine such insiders have become the secretary-general of the Lower House of Parliament.

I&B ministry to form a committee to review Journalist Welfare Scheme

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has decided to form a committee to review the existing guidelines of the Journalist Welfare Scheme (JWS).

The 12-member committee, with Ashok Kumar Tandon, Member, Prasar Bharati Board, as its chairperson, will revise the quantum of ex-gratia payment in case of death as well as in other cases under the scheme, the ministry said on Thursday. The terms of reference (ToR) of the committee include examining the need for such a revision of the quantum of ex-gratia payment.

Gujarat to host Defense Expo 2022

The next Defense Expo will be hosted by Gujarat in 2022. This was announced by chief minister Vijay Rupani in Kevadia on Thursday after the Gujarat government signed an MoU to this effect with ministry of defense in presence of defense minister Rajnath Singh.

About the Defence Expo-2022:

Defence Expo-2022 will be held in Gandhinagar from 10th to 13th March next year. The aim of Defense Expo 2022 is to move from Make in India to make for the world. The Defence Expo-2022 will focus on making India a Defence manufacturing hub.

Centre appoints Atul Bhatt as CMD of RINL

Atul Bhatt has been appointed as chairman and managing director (CMD) of disinvestment-owned steel company Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL), Bhatt was the CMD of state-owned consultancy firm MECON..

He was the CMD of state-owned consultancy firm MECON, which offers a full range of services required to set up a project from concept to commissioning including turnkey execution. PK Rath retired as CMD RINL on May 31, after serving the company for 38 years.

RINL is a special steel-making player based in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The company, without any captive iron ore mines, owns and operates a 7.3-million tonne (MT) steel plant in the state. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) had given in-principle approval for 100 per cent disinvestment of government stake in RINL, along with the company’s stake in subsidiaries/ joint ventures through strategic disinvestment by way of privatisation.

IMF increases India’s quota of Special Drawing Rights (SDR)

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has made an allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDR) 12.57 billion to India. (approx USD 17.86 billion). With this, the total SDR holding of India has gone upto SDR 13.66 billion (equivalent to around USD 19.41 billion).

SDR is one of the components of the Foreign Exchange Reserves (FER) of India. Hence the Foreign Exchange Reserves (FER) has also increased now. IMF has allocated a total of SDR 456 billion to all its member countries out of which India has got SDR 12.57.

Japan PM Yohihide suga to step down

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said Friday that he would not run in the ruling center-right party’s leadership election this month, indicating he would step down after just a year as the country’s leader.

Suga, 72, has struggled with low public approval ratings over his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and for pressing ahead with holding the Olympic Games in Tokyo this summer over the objections of health experts and much of the public.

Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga informed recently that he does not plan to run again in the election that will be held by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in September 2021. The party will have choose a new Prime Ministerial candidate. Suga had surpassed Japan’s longest-serving Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who had resigned in September 2020 citing ill health. 

Modi Virtually Addresses 6th Eastern Economic Forum 2021

Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually addressed the plenary session of the 6th Eastern Economic Forum (EEF), organized in Vladivostok, Russia. An Indian delegation led by Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri and comprising leading Indian oil and gas companies are participating in the EEF Summit 2021 in Russia. It may be recalled that PM was the Chief Guest for the 5th EEF in 2019, the first by an Indian Prime Minister.

On the sidelines of EEF, Petroleum Minister will also have meetings with Russian Energy Minister Nikolay Shulginov to review bilateral energy cooperation in the energy sector and with the Russian Minister for Development of Far East and Arctic Alexei Chekunkov to discuss the collaboration between Indian and Russian companies in that region. Petroleum Minister will also co-chair India-Russia Business Dialogue.

Krishan Pal Gurjar Chaired the 6th BRICS Energy Ministers Meeting 2021 held virtually

1. On September 2, 2021, Minister of State (MoS) Krishan Pal Gurjar, Ministry of Power virtually chaired the 6th meeting of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) Energy Ministers 2021 under the Chairship of India.
2. The meeting saw an adoption of a joint communiqué consisting of the BRICS mutual Cooperation in Energy Access and Affordability, among others.
3.  The MoS also virtually launched the BRICS Energy Report 2021, BRICS Energy Technology Report 2021, and BRICS Energy Research Directory 2021

University of Oxford tops Times World University Rankings 2022

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2022 has been announced. The University of Oxford is at the top of the list, followed by California Institute of Technology and Harvard University at the second and third positions, respectively. The Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, is placed between the 301-350 position. Incidentally, it is also the only university in the top 350 rankings.

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2022 includes record 1,662 universities from 99 countries and territories. The ranking is based on 13 balanced performance indicators.

Three Indian educational institutes have found a place in the top 400 list:

1. IISc Bangalore – 301-350 bracket
2. Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Ropar – 351-400 bracket.
3. IIT Indore – 401-500 bracket.

Top Five Universities in the world:

1. University of Oxford, UK
2. California Institute of Technology, US
3. Harvard University, US
4. Stanford University, US
5. University of Cambridge, UK

India becomes 3rd largest Unicorn ecosystem in the world

India has emerged as the third largest startup ecosystem in the world after the US and China and the pace of growth is not showing any signs of slowing down. Over the last year, India has added three unicorns every month taking the total count to 51, ahead of the UK (32) and Germany (18). A privately held startup company valued at over $1 billion is called a unicorn.

Hurun Research Institute has released the Hurun India Future Unicorn List 2021, as per which India is the third-largest Unicorn/startup ecosystem in the world. The USA is on top followed by China on second. India has 51 unicorns according to the list. The USA has 396 and China has 277 unicorns.

Zilingo is the top unicorn in the ranking in India with funding of USD 310. The headquarters of Zilingo is in Singapore. Bengaluru is the top Indian city in terms of the number of Unicorns headquartered in a city. Bengaluru has 31 unicorns followed by Mumbai which has 12 unicorns.

Tokyo Paralympics: Manish Narwal wins gold in 50m Mixed Pistol

India’s Manish Narwal and Singhraj Adana claimed two medals for India in men’s P4 mixed 50m pistol SH1. While Manish Narwal won the gold medal, Singhraj Adana claimed the silver medal. The two shooters took India’s tally to 15 medals at the ongoing Tokyo Paralympics.

Manish scored a total of 218.2 in the final, creating a Paralympic record in the process of winning the gold medal. His Indian teammate Singhraj Adana just fell short, scoring 216.7 in the final.

India’s medal tally now stands at 15 at these Paralympics. It has now won three golds, seven silvers and five bronze medals. This is India’s best tally at a single edition of the Para Games. It had won four medals at Rio 2016 and four at the 1984 Paralympics.

India: 1st Asian Country to launch a Plastics pact

India has become the first Asian country to develop a plastics pact, launching a ground-breaking new initiative to bring together leading businesses at a national level to make commitments for building a circular system for plastics.

The India Plastics Pact (IPP) has launched as a collaboration between:

• WWF India
• the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

The pact is supported by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and WRAP, and endorsed by the British High Commission in India.

In Autumn 2020, UKRI committed £250,000 of funding to:

• enable WRAP to establish the India Plastics Pact
• initiate start-up
• engage the Indian government
• develop the appropriate targets and priority work streams for India.

Aim of the pact

• Commitments under the pact are aimed at keeping plastic packaging in the economy and out of natural environment.
• It mentioned 17 businesses including major FMCG brands, manufacturers, retailers and recyclers who have committed with the pact as founding members. Nine businesses have joined as supporting organisations.
• The pact provides for time-bound targets of reducing, innovating and re-imagining plastic packaging.
• It aims to define a list of unnecessary or problematic plastic packaging & items and take measures to address these problems with the help of redesign and innovation, by 2030.
• Under the pact, 100 per cent of plastic packaging will be made reusable or recyclable, 50 per cent of plastic packaging will be effectively recycled and 25 per cent average recycled content will be made across all plastic packaging.

Plastic waste in India

India generates about 9.46 million tonnes of plastic waste annually. Out of this, 40 per cent are not collected. In India, half of all plastics production are used in packaging and most of it is single use plastic.

Who provide support to plastic pacts?

UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) and WRAP fully support the plastic pact in India. They also support plastics pacts in Europe, US, Australia, and Africa.

Amazon India launches Kisan Store

Amazon India has announced the launch of Kisan Store – an online platform that will enable farmers across India to get access to more than 8,000 agriculture inputs such as seeds, farm tools and accessories,plant protection, nutrition, and more. Listed by small and medium businesses (SMBs) these products will be available at competitive prices on Amazon India, with the added convenience of delivery at the doorstep of the farmers.

The store was launched by Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare on Thursday. Commenting on this development, he said,

“I hope this initiative proves to be beneficial for the farmers and the people associated with the farming community to engage the Indian farmers in the modern era of digital economy, increase the productivity of agricultural produce, and provide services like logistics industry.”

Language of store

Kisan store will be available in languages like Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, and Malayalam.

Mode of Payment

Farmers can buy products listed on store using digital payments.

Amazon Easy store

Amazon also opened up its network of more than 5,000 Amazon Easy stores for farmers to shop with the help of the store owners. Store owners will help the farmers to browse through the store and identify product they like. They will also help then in creating their Amazon accounts, place orders, and checkout to buy.

Agronomy Services

Amazon also launched its agronomy services for farmers. It will provide farmers with timely advice and enable them to make accurate decisions regarding the actions required for their crops.

Aim of the Kisan Store

Amazon India launched Kisan Store with the aim of introducing machine learning technology for better produce and build a robust supply chain infrastructure.

World Social Protection Report 2020-22- Highlights

Recently, a International Labour Organization report titled ‘World Social Protection Report 2020–22’ has revealed that, globally 4.1 billion people are living without any social safety net of any kind.

• The report highlighted that the pandemic response was uneven and insufficient. Thereby, Covid-19 has further underscored the critical importance of achieving universal social protection.
• ILO is a specialized agency of the United Nations. It is the only tripartite UN agency. It brings together governments, employers and workers of 187 member States, to set labour standards, develop policies and devise programmes promoting decent work for all women and men.

Key Findings of report

• As per report, more than half of the world population are not getting any form of social protection. This trend of no social protection is there even after expansion of social protections amidst the global outbreak of COVID-19.
• Only 47 per cent of the global population had effective access to one social protection benefit, in 2020 while 53 per cent (4.1 billion people) had no protection at all.
• People in Europe and Central Asia are among the best covered population. 84 per cent of populations in Europe and Central Asia are having access to at least one benefit.
• In America, the rate of social protection is 64.3 per cent.
• In Asia, the Pacific and the Arab States, lesser than half of people are covered under protection.
• In Africa, only 17.4 per cent of the people are getting at least one social protection.
• Most children across the globe had no social protection.
• Just one in four children in the world get a social protection benefit.
• 45 per cent of women with new-borns receive cash maternity benefit.
• One in three people with severe disabilities receive disability benefits.
• One in five people worldwide are covered in case they lose their job.

Rich Poor divide

This report examined the impact COVID-19 pandemic on social protection. It found, an additional spending required to ensure minimum social protection for all and reduce the financing gap has increased by 30 per cent since the start of the pandemic. On an average, countries spend approximately 13 per cent of GDP on social protection. However, high-income countries spend 16.4 per cent of GDP on social protection. On the other hand, low-income countries spend just 1.1 per cent.

Social Protection

Social protection comprises of access to healthcare and income security in cases of unemployment, old age, inability to work, and for families with children.