Today's Current Affairs-5th September 2022

NATIONAL

Meghalaya CM launches 'Rural Backyard Piggery Scheme' for farmers' welfare

• Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma has launched the ‘Rural Backyard Piggery Scheme’ to ensure the farmers earn a sustainable livelihood through different livestock farming activities. The Chief Minister said that the government through different welfare schemes is successfully providing income generation opportunities and economic prosperity to the farmers.
• Under this mission, zero interest loan is provided for setting up fattening and pig breeding. So far 250 piggery cooperative societies have availed loans amounting to Rs 43.67 crore.
• The government has earmarked Rs 15.18 crore under which four high-yielding improved varieties will be distributed to 6000 families.
• The Meghalaya Chief Minister informed that additional Rs 25 crore will be earmarked to roll out the second phase of the programme.

About Meghalaya:

Capital: Shillong;

Chief Minister: Conrad Kongkal Sangma;

Governor: Satya Pal Malik.

CCRAS offers fellowship to support research in Ayurveda

• The Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) takes a unique initiative to support the research efforts of the upcoming bright mind of India. CCRAS has developed the Studentship Program for Ayurveda Research Ken (SPARK) for Ayurveda students (BAMS) in recognized Ayurveda colleges.
• SPARK Program has been developed by the CCRAS to support the young minds of the students and to promote the culture of evidence-based scientific research in the field of Ayurveda.
• SPARK Program will help the students to develop an acumen for research and to support their research ideas.
• SPARK Program aims to support the research ideas of the young upcoming students across all the Ayurveda colleges in India.

About SPARK:

Developer(s): Apache Spark

Written in: Scala

Available in: Scala, Java, SQL, Python, R, C#, F#

License: Apache License 2.0

Initial release: May 26, 2014; 8 years ago

Operating system: Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux

 SPORTS

Max Verstappen wins F1 Dutch Grand Prix to delight of home crowd

• This season had been a trying old slog for Lewis Hamilton at best and his frustration and disappointment at the Sisyphean task of repeatedly wrangling a recalcitrant Mercedes has been palpable. At the Dutch Grand Prix his boulder, his burden became just too heavy as his team left him floundering, impotent and indeed furious as his race fell apart.
• Max Verstappen won in Zandvoort and this much at least had been expected — certainly by the 105,000 orange-clad fans who roared their approval at every lap. Yet it had not quite been the celebratory jaunt from pole to flag they had anticipated and for the first time this season it had been Mercedes and Hamilton who had been in with a genuine shot of their first win of the season.
• It was not to be as Verstappen made another major step towards securing his second title. He now leads Charles Leclerc and Sergio Pérez by 109 points, with seven races remaining and 190 points on the table. Yet as the orange plumes of smoke dissipated in the wind over Zandvoort it was Hamilton’s reaction to what had transpired that had caught the attention.

Anishka Biyani Wins Gold Medal in Malaysian Chess Meet

• Six-year-old Anishka Biyani won the gold medal in the Malaysian Age Group Rapid Chess Championship at Kuala Lumpur on Sunday.
• Anishka, a first-grade student of Dhirubhai Ambani school, achieved the feat in the Under-6 Open category with an impressive score of four points out of a possible six to clinch the title in the girls category.
• Participants from as many as eight countries took part in the competition. Earlier this year, Anishka also qualified as one of the best under-7 players in the All India FIDE rating chess tournament held in Yousufguda, Hyderabad.
• ”Anishka is extremely talented and this is her first big international victory where she competed with the best players from across the world. It is good for her that she would play more such events in the future,” said her coach Durga Nagesh Guttula of SMCA in a release.
• Anishka’s mother Tanushri Biyani was elated and thanked her coach for putting in all the efforts in training and grooming her.

 APPOINTMENS & RESIGNATIONS

ACC names Captain B K Tyagi as the new CMD of Shipping Corporation of India

• The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has signed off on the proposal to appoint Captain Binesh Kumar Tyagi as the new chairman and managing director of Shipping Corporation of India Ltd (SCI). The appointment is for five years from the date of assumption of charge of the post, or till the date of his superannuation, or until further orders, whichever is the earliest, according to an office order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training.
• Captain Tyagi is currently the director looking after the liner and passenger services division at SCI which is in the process of being privatised by the government. Captain Tyagi graduated from Meerut University and joined SCI in 1990 as a trainee nautical officer and sailed on board various ships in different ranks including as master. In 2004, he came onshore and served in the technical, vetting, chartering and fleet personnel departments.

About Shipping Corporation of India Ltd:

Headquarters: Mumbai

Founded: 2 October 1961, Mumbai

 IMPORTANT DAYS

National Teachers’ Day 2022: 5^th September

• Teachers’ Day or Shikshak Divas marks the birthday of the country’s first Vice President (1952–1962) who went on to become the second President of India (1962-1967), a scholar, philosopher, Bharat Ratna awardee, Dr Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan. He was born on September 5 in the year 1888. But teachers’ day was first observed in the year 1962 on his 77th birthday. He was a teacher who turned out to be a philosopher, scholar and politician. He dedicated his entire life to working towards the importance of education in people’s lives.
• The theme for this year’s teachers’ day is ‘Leading in crisis, reimaging the future.’
• When Dr Radhakrishan took office of the second President of India in 1962, his students approached him to seek permission to celebrate September 5 as a special day.
• Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was born in a Telugu-speaking Niyogi Brahmin family, in Tiruttani of Madras district in the erstwhile Madras Presidency (later in Andhra Pradesh till 1960, now in Tiruvallur district of Tamil Nadu since 1960).

International Day of Charity 2022: 5^th September

• The International Day of Charity is observed on September 5. On this day, philanthropic and humanitarian efforts of any kind are honoured. September 5 was chosen to celebrate the day because it is Mother Teresa’s death anniversary. She devoted her life for charity and helping people in need. Her compassion and giving nature had made her a revered figure worldwide. Mother Teresa received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for “work undertaken in the struggle to overcome poverty and distress, which also constitute a threat to peace.”
• September 5 was declared as the International Day of Charity, by a resolution adopted by United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), on December 17, 2012. The resolution was co-sponsored by 44 UN member nations.
• The great personality passed away on 5 September 1997, at the age of 87. The International Day of Charity was first marked by the United Nations General Assembly in 2012.

SUMMIT'S & MOU's

First Homoeopathy International Health Summit held in Dubai

• First Homeopathy International Health summit: The first Homeopathy International Health summit hosted by Dubai aimed to teach and promote a homeopathic system of medicine, medications, and practices. Burnett Homeopathy Pvt Limited, a company that deals with homeopathic dilutions, mother tincture, lower trituration tablets, unique medicines including drops, syrups, skincare, hair care, and other homeopathic remedies, organised the summit.
• Homeopathy is one of the greatest techniques to treat any sickness or ailment because its negative effects are so minimal in comparison to others.
• The first global homeopathy health summit was also attended by a large number of top doctors from both India and throughout the world.
• By 2030, it is predicted that the health industry will need to spend between 200 and 400 crore rupees annually due to climate change, as discussed in the first global homeopathy health summit.

About UAE:

Capital: Abu Dhabi

Currency: United Arab Emirates dirham

President: Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan

 AWARDS & RECOGNITION

Barack Obama: Emmy win for narrating Netflix documentary

• The former President of the United States Barack Obama won Emmy Award for his narration in the Netflix documentary “Our Great National Parks”. Obama already has two Grammys and is now halfway to an EGOT- the achievement of having won all four of the major American entertainment awards i.e. an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony.
• The five-part Netflix documentary produced by “Higher Ground” productions, Barack and Michelle Obama’s production company, features national parks from across the globe. Barack Obama has previously received Grammy Awards for the audiobook readings of his memoirs “The Audacity of Hope” and “A Promised Land.” Michelle Obama received her own Grammy in 2020 for reading her audiobook. Obama was the biggest name in a category that was full of celebrity nominees including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, David Attenborough and Lupita Nyong’o.

About United states:

Capital: Washington, D.C.

President: Joe Biden

Currency: United States Dollar

 BOOKS & AUTHOR

Book ‘Divorce and Democracy: A History of Personal Law in Post-Independence India’ by Saumya Saxena

• A new book on divorce laws and various religions in the post-colonial era was released at the India International Centre. The book ‘Divorce and Democracy: A History of Personal Law in Post-Independence India’ talks about family law, religion, and gender politics in India. The book has written by Saumya Saxena, a British Academy Fellow at the faculty of History, University of Cambridge, the book talks about the Indian state’s difficult dialogue with divorce, which reconciles largely through religion.
• This book captures the Indian state’s difficult dialogue with divorce, mediated largely through religion. By mapping the trajectories of marriage and divorce laws of Hindu, Muslim, and Christian communities in post-colonial India, it explores the dynamic interplay between law, religion, family, minority rights and gender in Indian politics.
• Personal law, therefore, played a key role in defining the place of religion and determining the content of secularism in India’s democracy. The book shows a dynamic interplay between law, religion, family, minority rights, and gender in Indian politics. The book will include the demands of both men and women.

 BANKING AND ECONOMY

Unemployment rate falls from 7.6 per cent in April to June this year: PLFS

• The unemployment rate in India for people aged 15 years and above in urban areas declined to 7.6 per cent during April-June 2022 from 12.6 per cent a year ago, the National Statistical Office (NSO) said on 31 August. In April-June 2021, the joblessness was high in the country mainly due to the staggering impact of Covid-related restrictions. The latest data underlined a decline in unemployment rate amid improved labour force participation ratio, point towards a sustained economic recovery from the shadow of the pandemic.
• In January-March 2022, the unemployment rate in India for persons aged 15 years and above was 8.2 per cent in urban areas, the 15th Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) showed.
• As per the NSO data, the Labour force participation rate in CWS (Current Weekly Status) in urban areas for persons aged 15 years and above increased to 47.5 per cent in the April-June quarter of 2022, from 46.8 per cent in the same period a year ago. It was 47.3 per cent in January-March 2022. The Worker Population Ratio (WPR) in CWS in urban areas for persons aged 15 years and above stood at 43.9 per cent in April-June, 2022, up from 40.9 per cent in the same period a year ago. It was 43.4 per cent in January-March 2022.

India set to become 3rd largest economy in the world, report says

• India is set to become the third largest economy in the world by 2029. A State Bank of India report said India will surpass Germany in 2027 and most likely Japan by 2029 at the current rate of growth. The report said that the country has undergone a large structural shift since 2014 and is now the 5th largest economy overtaking the United Kingdom. The path taken by India since 2014 reveals the country is likely to get the tag of 3rd largest economy in 2029, a movement of 7 places upwards since 2014 when India was ranked 10th, it said.
• The research report from SBI’s Economic Research Department highlighted that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate for FY23 is estimated between 6.7-7.7 per cent, but it is normal to have a 6-6.5 per cent growth due to global uncertainties. According to a Bloomberg report on Friday, India had surpassed Britain to become the world’s fifth largest economy. India extended its lead in the first quarter, showed the GDP figures from the International Monetary Fund. But, as per the SBI report, India had surpassed the UK as the fifth largest economy as early as December 2021 itself.
• “The share of India’s GDP is now at 3.5 per cent, as against 2.6 per cent in 2014, and is likely to cross 4 per cent in 2027, which is the current share of Germany in global GDP,” the report added.
• As per World Bank data it had a GDP per capita of $2,277 in 2021, whereas the UK had a per capita income of $47,334. China’s per capita income was nearly six times India’s at $12,556 in 2021.

About SBI:

Chairperson: Dinesh Kumar Khara

Headquarters: Mumbai

Founded: 1 July 1955