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 8 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 8 August 2021
Karnataka govt issues order to implement New Education Policy 2020
Karnataka has become the first state in the country to issue an order to implement the new Education policy.
The National Education Policy that aims at increasing the Gross Enrollment ratio in higher education from 26.8 percent in 2018 to 50 percent by 2035 will bring in sweeping reforms in the area of education.
Once implemented the National Skills Qualification Framework will become part of the graduation programme.
They can get a maximum of 40 percent credits through official online courses and 50 percent credits from any University.
They have the option to discontinue and integrate courses after a specific period. A single regulator will oversee higher education in the country.
Russia does not invite India in Troika Plus Meeting
India has not been invited to a key meeting convened by Russia on the fast-evolving situation in Afghanistan that is expected to be attended by Pakistan, China and the US.
A troika is a traditional Russian harness driving combination, using three horses abreast, usually pulling a sleigh. It differs from most other three-horse combinations in that the horses are harnessed abreast.
The troika is also a meeting whose purpose is to ensure effective political management of the institution.
The ‘extended Troika’ meeting is scheduled to be held in Qatar on August 11. Talks under this framework were earlier taken place on March 18 and April 30.
Russia led meeting will be held because Taliban is still continuing its major offensive in Afghanistan. So, Russia has stepped up its efforts in order to reach out to all key stakeholders in war-torn country so that violence can be stopped.
Permission to drone use to Directorate of Urban Local Bodies
Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) have granted conditional exemption from Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Rules, 2021 to Directorate of Urban Local Bodies (DULB), Haryana.
The exemption allows the aerial survey and photogrammetry of centrally protected monuments in collaboration with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) using drones.
The approved locations for drone operations for the NISER include Raja-Rani Temple, Bhubaneswar & Lingaraj Temple, Bhubaneswar.
This exemption is valid for a period of one year from the date of approval or until further orders, whichever is earlier and shall be subject to the terms and conditions of the SOP issued by DGCA.
Earlier this month, drone use permission was also granted to the Directorate of Urban Local Bodies (DULB), Haryana for data acquisition, mapping, and implementation of web-based GIS platform for the development of AMRUT cities and property tax survey for Hisar, Panchkula, Ambala urban areas.
Taliban removed Sikh religious flag from gurdwara in Afghanistan
India has condemned the reported removal of Nishan Sahib, a Sikh religious flag from the rooftop of a gurdwara in Afghanistan’s Paktia province.
The historical Gurdwara was visited by Sri Guru Nanak Dev.
Afghanistan has been witnessing Taliban-driven violence in light of the ongoing withdrawal of troops by the US.
Pending cases in lower and subordinate courts
Nearly 4 crore cases over 1 crore civil and nearly 3 crore criminal are pending in lower and subordinate courts across the country as of July 30, 2021.
As per the information available on National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG), as on 30.07.2021 a total of 3,93,21,607 cases are pending in the lower and subordinate courts.
While a bulk of the cases are up to three years old, 1,20,001 (0.26 per cent) have been pending for more than 30 years.
No time frame has been prescribed for disposal of various kinds of cases by the respective courts.
Of the 3.93 crore cases that are pending, 2.88 crore are criminal cases, while 1.05 crore are civil cases.
Arabian Sea cyclones more frequent in recent years
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) have shown that in recent decades, there has been increased occurrences of extreme weather events, including extremely severe cyclonic storms.
An analysis of past data of cyclones over the North Indian Ocean (Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea) during the period 1891–2020 indicates that the frequency of extremely severe cyclonic storms has increased in recent few years over the Arabian Sea since 1990, and remained the same over the Bay of Bengal.
The highest loss of lives occurred during Cyclones Tautkae, (2021, 118 deaths), Amphan (2020, 98 deaths), Titli (2018, 78 deaths) and Nilam (2012, 75 deaths), the data showed.
Status check on world climate
The world has seen unexpected floods in Europe and China, record-breaking heat-waves in the United States, and deadly forest fires in Siberia, and Turkey and Greece.
This part of the report will present the latest scientific understanding of the climate system, how and why is it changing, and the impact of human activities on this process.
The second and third parts of the report, dealing with the expected impacts of climate change, and the actions required to prevent the worst impacts, are slated to come out next year.
The five previous assessment reports that have come out since the IPCC was established in 1988 have formed the basis of international climate change negotiations.
The fourth assessment report, which came out in 2007, won the IPCC the Nobel Peace Prize.
RBI Monetary Policy August 2021
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) decided to keep benchmark interest rate unchanged at 4 per cent but maintained an accommodative stance as the economy is yet to recover from the impact of second COVID wave.
The panel has also raised the inflation target for fiscal 2001-22 but maintained the growth forecast at 9.5 per cent.
It decided to continue with an accommodative stance as long as necessary to revive and sustain growth on a durable basis and continue to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 on the economy.
The RBI panel has hiked the inflation target for fiscal 2021-22 to 5.7 per cent from 5.1 per cent projected earlier.
Although the target is below the RBI’s upper band of inflation target of six per cent, input prices are rising across manufacturing and services sectors and weak demand and efforts towards cost cutting are tempering the pass-through to output prices.
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award has been renamed after hockey legend Dhyan Chand
The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award – the highest sporting honour in India – has been renamed after hockey legend Dhyan Chand.
Major Dhyan Chand (29 August 1905 – 3 December 1979) was an Indian field hockey player widely regarded as one of the greatest in the history of the sport.
He was known for his extraordinary goal-scoring feats, in addition to earning three Olympic gold medals, in 1928, 1932 and 1936.
Popularly known as The Wizard or The Magician of hockey for his superb ball control, Chand played internationally from 1926 to 1949; he scored 570 goals in 185 matches according to his autobiography, Goal.
The Government of India awarded him Padma Bhushan in 1956. His birthday, 29 August, is celebrated as National Sports Day in India every year.
Neeraj Chopra won gold medal in men’s javelin throw in Tokyo Olympics
Neeraj Chopra created history by becoming the second Indian to win an individual gold medal in Olympics after shooter Abhinav Bindra.
Neeraj is the first Indian in over 120 years, and the first athlete from independent India, to win an Olympic medal in a track-and-field discipline.
Neeraj won the gold medal in the men’s javelin throw event with a throw of 87.58m in his second attempt.
The only medal that India had won in track-and-field events was back in 1900 when British-Indian Norman Pritchard had won two silver medals in Paris.
The International Olympic Committee still credits Norman Pritchard’s medals to India though various research, including the records of then IAAF (now World Athletics), showed that he had competed for Great Britain.
Biden non-committal on support for permanent UNSC seat for India
The Biden administration has continued to remain non-committal on support for permanent UNSC seat for India, while the US has in the past backed India’s bid for a permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
The Obama and Trump administrations had supported a permanent seat for India on the Security Council.
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, and approving any changes to the UN Charter.
Its powers include establishing peacekeeping operations, enacting international sanctions, and authorizing military action.
India is currently (in 2021 and 2022) a non-permanent member of the UNSC and is president for the month of August.
Virendra Kumar launched ‘PM-DAKSH’ Portal and ‘PM-DAKSH’ Mobile App
Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Dr. Virendra Kumar launched ‘PM-DAKSH’ Portal and ‘PM-DAKSH’ Mobile App.
These were developed by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, in collaboration with NeGD, to make the skill development schemes accessible to the target groups.
Through these portal and app the youth of the target groups will now be able to avail the benefits of skill development training programmes more easily.
The features of PM-DAKSH Portal are
- Availability of all information related to skill development at one place for Scheduled Castes, Backward Classes and Safai Karamcharis.
- Facility to register for the training institute and program of their interest.
- Facility to upload desired documents related to personal information.
- Facility to register the attendance of the trainees through face and eye scanning during the training period.
- Monitoring facility through photo and video clip during training etc.
